Keeping up with the Castles
by hhooppyy
Summary: AU. Kate's life changes for the better when a 6 year old girl uses her as a human shield while she is buying a book after a hard day at work.
1. Meeting Chloe

**A/N: This is my first ever fan fic so please dont judge too harshly (but I love constructive criticism). I am not much of a writer but this story just begged to be written. **

**Thanks to agentchuckles who helped me with ideas and content. You were an invaluable resource. **

**However, mistakes are all my own. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Castle or have any stake it in and am not making any money from this. **

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><p>Weary and worn out by her latest case, Kate let her mind wander to thoughts of the warm, luxurious bubble bath that was awaiting her at home as she opened the door to the small store before her. Intent on remedying the one thing that was preventing her from sinking into the cleansing, relaxing water—lack of reading material—Kate entered the shop and headed straight for the crimemystery section, not even bothering to look at what other wares the store may be peddling, intent on grabbing one book in particular—Storm Fall.

So intent was she on retrieving the book that she almost failed to notice the little blonde and pink blur that had come hurtling towards her until it nearly knocked her off her feet in its pursuit to get behind her legs.

Regaining her balance, Kate looked down, only to discover that the blur was actually a little blond haired, blue eyed, six year old girl dressed in pink from head to toe. Attempting to turn around to talk to the girl, Kate discovered that she had somehow managed to latch herself to Kate's leg and was apparently trying to secure herself between Kate's legs and the bookshelf behind her.

Reaching down to try and unwrap the girls little hands from around her leg, Kate suddenly went on alert as, out of the corner of her eye, she saw a large blur flying towards them and felt the little girls grasp tighten around her thigh.

Moving slightly to the side to provide a better barrier between the blur and the girl, Kate braced herself for impact.

As the large blur slowed, seemingly recognizing that the little girl was being protected, it took everything Kate had to not let her jaw drop as the blur morphed into a recognizable human being. There, standing before her, looking like any average Joe on the street was her favorite author, the author of the book she had been holding in her hands, _the_ Richard Castle!

"Chloe! You know the rules. No using strangers as protection from the 'monsters'." Raising his arms, hands curled like claws, and pulling his face like a 'scary monster', Castle inched his way towards the two females standing before him.

"Hi! My name's Chloe. What's yours?"

As the man before her stopped in his tracks, Kate pulled her eyes away from him and looked down at the little girl who was staring expectantly back at her. "Kate."

"Daddy, this is Kate. See! She isn't a stranger." Smiling smugly at her father, Chloe let go of Kate's legs and leaned back against the bookshelf.

Looking back towards the man standing in front of her, Kate jumped slightly when a loud, high-pitched squeal sounded from behind her. Turning quickly around, Kate let out a little sigh of relief when she saw Chloe laughing enthusiastically as a teenaged redheaded girl had pulled her into a hug and was tickling her.

Turning back to face Castle, Kate was startled to discover how close he had come while her back was turned as she ran into his hand that he had outstretched like he was going to tap her on the shoulder.

"Sorry about that. My daughter can be a little…high-strung at times. I hope she didn't cause you too much inconvenience." Holding out the copy of Storm Fall that she had dropped in her rush to protect the girl, he continued. "I'm Richard by the way, but you can call me Rick. The redhead over there is my eldest, Alexis, and the little rug rat is my other daughter, Chloe, who you have already met. If there is anything I can do to make this up to you, just say the word."

Finally managing to pull herself from her stupor, Kate grabbed the book that Castle held out for her. "Hi…Rick. I'm Kate. It really was no problem at all."

"Are you sure? My girls and I are headed out for ice cream. You're welcome to join us if you'd like; although, from the looks of things you already have plans for the evening. Of course, those plans appear to be with me." With a suggestive lift of his eyebrow he moved a half a step closer to Kate. "Well, with my book anyways, so wouldn't you rather go out for ice cream with us instead?"

"No. I don't think that'd be a good idea. As you said, I have a _hot_ date tonight. Bubble bath…wine…and you…" Punctuating each statement with a step forward, Kate touched Castle gently on the forearm before swiftly turning around with a triumphant smirk on her face and heading for the door only to be stopped by the feeling of a small hand resting against her arm.

Blushing slightly at the remembrance that Castle's daughters had been nearby for that entire exchange, Kate glanced down to see Chloe starring innocently up at her. "Thank you for trying to protect me from the monsters. You are the best human shield ever!" Wrapping her arms around Kate's waist before she could stop her, Chloe gave Kate a hug before turning her head back towards Kate. There in place of the innocent expression was the patented puppy dog look. Before Kate could look away, Chloe continued. "Won't you pwease come to ice cream with us? Pwease?"

Looking away from the girl, Kate raised her gaze towards Castle and glared at him: _You put her up to this, didn't you_?

In response, Castle could only give a little innocent shrug. "That is all her. I believe her grandmother has been training her well."

Looking back towards the little girl, Kate couldn't help but fall for the large, pleading eyes that were looking back at her.

"Well, how could I say no to that? Give me a sec to buy my book and we can go get ice cream."


	2. Getting Ice Cream

Exiting the bookstore, bag in hand, Kate couldn't help but be drawn towards the Castles who stood near the wall just to the right of the door. The excitement rolling off Castle and Chloe was nearly tangible as she saw the two of them bouncing up and down on the balls of their feet and chattering excitedly with exaggerated hand movements. Smiling slightly at the sight, Kate was nearly bowled over as Chloe noticed her presence and rushed over to her.

"Kate! Daddy and I need your help!" Turning her head away from Kate, she glared pointedly at Alexis before continuing. "Alexis won't say go for our race to the ice cream shop. You have to help us!"

"Why won't Alexis say go for you?"

"She says it's too dangerous to race to the ice cream shop." With a roll of her eyes and a wave of her hand, she grabbed Kate's arm and pulled her lower so she could whisper conspiratorially in her ear. "She has never said that _before_. I think she just wants to let you say go."

"Is that so? So, where is this ice cream shop you are racing to?" Following the invisible line from Chloe's pointer finger, Kate saw that the shop wasn't far and the sidewalks were relatively empty.

Going against her better judgment, Kate slowly nodded her head in acquiescence. With a squeal, Chloe ran back to Castle and set him up next to her, using a crack in the cement as a starting line.

From where Kate stood, she could hear Chloe's laughter ringing out in the night air as she and Castle playfully shoved each other, trying to push the other from their starting position. As a smile started to form on her face, the two racers settled into position and took their marks, waiting for Kate to release them.

"Kate! We're ready!"

Walking towards them, Kate put off yelling the word they so desperately wanted to hear just to see how long they could maintain their ready positions. While it only took a couple steps to reach them, Kate could see that in the time it took her to walk over the two of them were beginning to squirm, itching to get off the starting line. With a small chuckle, Kate took pity on them and yelled "Go!" to set them off running.

With a shout of "I'm going to beat you!" Chloe took off like a shot, taking the early lead.

As soon as Castle and Chloe started their race, Alexis started walking after them, leaving Kate little choice but to follow after.

Catching up with Alexis, Kate was a little surprised at the tense silence that seemed to fall between them; almost like Alexis was doing her best not to acknowledge Kate's presence. Placing a hand gently on Alexis shoulder and turning her, Kate effectively stopped both their forward progressions.

"Alexis? Do you not want me here? I know this is family time for you guys, and if you don't want me to intrude, I can tell your dad and sister that something came up and I can leave."

"No. It's fine. Chloe really wants you here and so does my dad."

"Are you sure? Just say the word and I will leave."

"I'm sure." With that, Alexis started walking again.

Not sure what else to say, Kate caught up with the girl and they walked in silence the rest of the way to the shop.

Catching up with Chloe and Castle, Kate smiled at finding herself facing a slightly out of breath Richard Castle with Chloe patting his arm in consolation.

Standing upright at the arrival of the 'stragglers', Castle pulled four ten dollar bills from his wallet. "Girls, you know the rules. Stick to them, and may the best man, woman or girl win." Castle quickly handed each girl a bill before lightly pushing them towards the door. "Now go!"

As soon as the girls were inside the shop, he turned and handed Kate one of the two remaining ten dollar bills.

"What's this for?"

"For the game."

In response to the pause that followed his proclamation, Kate raised her eyebrow in a question.

"When I was young, my mother and I spent a lot of time on the road travelling with whatever production she was a part of at that time. Because of that, we didn't have a lot of stability, but we made it a point to hunt down the best ice cream shop in whatever city we were stopped. For a while, just eating ice cream was enough, but as time went by and I got older, mother decided that just eating ice cream was boring. It needed some _pizazz_! So, we decided to make a game of it. Instead of just eating plain, normal ice cream, we had to spice it up somehow, and thus a game was born. The goal of the game was to create the most outrageous, but best tasting ice cream concoction we could with however much we could afford at that time. As we visited more and more cities and more and more ice cream shops, the rules changed slightly so that we started guessing what the other person had put in their ice cream. When Alexis was born, I just knew I was going to have to play the game with her, even if we weren't travelling the country as much as my mom and I did, and so, as soon as she was old enough I started playing the game with her. Then Chloe was born and now it is tradition."

"So, let me see if I got this right. The goal of the game is to come up with an outrageous concoction that tastes good and is strange enough that hopefully no one else will be able to guess all the add-ins? Is that about right?" Kate asked after a pause to process what she had heard.

"That's about it. Now, the only other rule you need to know are that you must by a large ice cream—it makes enough for everyone to share and then allow you to enjoy what's left over and it limits how many add-ins you can afford. Other than that, it is pretty much a free for all. Just remember to cover your bowl before you sit down at the table."

"I think I can handle that. Just don't take it too hard when I wipe the floor with you."

"Oh? You think you can take down the reigning champion? We shall see, Kate. We. Shall. See!"

Quickly ushering Kate into the shop, they joined the line, making sure to stay far enough apart from one another that neither would be able to cheat.

-o-O-o-

Carrying her covered bowl of ice cream, Kate made her way to a back table where the Castle were already seated, three covered bowls in front of them. Sitting down in the last empty seat, Kate placed the bowl on the table and looked at the pieces of paper that had been resting there.

"That is the game cards. In order to try and keep the game fair, we fill out game cards with the flavor of ice cream we think it is followed by all the add-ins. First, though, you fill out one of the cards with what is actually in your ice cream, fold it up and place it in the middle of the table. Then for the game, you taste each of the ice creams and fill out the card and at the end you rank them on flavor. Since Chloe is still learning to write, the person whose ice cream she is tasting has the added job of filling out her card as she dictates it to you. Sound good? Okay then, everyone pass their ice cream to the right."

For the next ten minutes, the only sounds that could be heard were the smacks of mouths as they ate ice cream, the scratch of pen on paper, quiet grunts of disgust as they each tried Castle's concoction and the faint hiss of Chloe whispering her guesses into someone's ear. When everyone was done and the papers were handed to Castle, the girls started talking right away.

"Dad? What is in your ice cream? That is possibly the worst creation you have ever foisted on us. Please, please, please, never make that again." Alexis said with a grimace.

"_Really_? You think _my_ ice cream is disgusting? Not possible. Not. A. Chance. That dish is the _masterpiece_ of all ice creams."

"No Rick, Alexis is right. That is truly disgusting. Besides, how would you know whether it is good or not? You haven't even tasted it yet."

"It's a Richard Castle creation. Ipso facto, it must be great!"

"And Chloe, what do you think of your dad's _masterpiece_?"

"Daddy, I'm with them. That was gross." Wrinkling up her nose in such an extreme showing of distaste, Castle couldn't help but laugh before scooping a spoonful of his ice cream into his mouth.

While the girls and Kate sat eating their ice cream and discussing school, Castle quickly scored the sheets laid out in front of him while occasionally taking bites of his own ice cream. When it appeared that the girls were deep in conversation, Castle covertly snuck his spoon towards Kate's ice cream intent on getting another taste. Without looking away from Alexis, Kate reached over and smacked Castle's hand.

"Na uh! You have your own ice cream. Eat that and leave mine alone."

"But yours is so much better than mine!" As he talked, he put on his best puppy-dog pout and tried once again to snag a bite of Kate's ice cream. "I mean, it was unanimously voted as best tasting."

With a resounding thump, Kate smacked the back of Castle's hand with her spoon. "Nope! That isn't going to work on me. Now, stop trying to steal my ice cream or I _will_ be forced to cuff you to your chair."

"Cuff me to my chair? What is it exactly that you do, Kate?"

Stealing herself for the inevitable rejection that usually followed this confession, she locked eyes with Castle "I'm a police detective."

"Really? That is so cool!"

Shocked by the atypical reaction, Kate stiffened as her eyes grew slightly wider. Before she could get over the shock, Castle leaned forward so that his mouth was next to her ear.

"In that case, Detective, feel free to cuff me any time," A lecherous look overtook his face as he felt Kate shiver slightly as the huff of warm air breezed past her ear.

"Dad! Children present!" Alexis reproachfully exclaimed as she quickly clapped her hands over Chloe's ears and eyes while seemingly trying to figure out how to cover her own at the same time.

Blushing deep red when he realized he had spoken louder than intended, Castle leaned back in his chair and opened his mouth in horror.

In an attempt to ease the awkwardness that had settled over the table, Kate grabbed a spoonful of her ice cream and shoved it in Castle's mouth causing the girls as the table to laugh as the sight.

"So, you mentioned that my ice cream was voted best tasting. What did I win then?"

"Yes, your ice cream—"

"Didn't your mom ever tell you not to talk with your mouth full?" Reaching over, Kate placed a hand under his chin forcing his mouth closed to finish his ice cream. With a loud gulp, Castle swallowed the rest of the ice cream before turning and showing Kate his empty mouth.

"As I was saying before you interrupted—yes, your ice cream won best tasting hands down and I am not sure what you won yet. Normally best tasting would get to choose the movie we watch tonight when we get home, but since we aren't having movie night tonight, and I am feeling that even if we were you'd feel terribly uncomfortable joining us for that, I am not sure. How about I think about it and get back to you?"

"Sounds good. What about the other winner?"

"Yes…and the winner is, with an impressive twenty-three out of twenty-six correct guesses, drumroll please." At the prompt, the two girls started slapping the table for a couple seconds before stopping. "the reigning champion, Chloe! As the winner of this challenge, you get the chance to choose the destination of our next family outing this next weekend. Think long and hard about what you want to do…it could be the last time you win this challenge!"

"I already know what we are going next, but it is a secret."

"Is that so, Chloe-bug? Well, don't tell us then. We wouldn't want to ruin the surprise would we?" Turning to face Kate, Castle opened his mouth to talk when Chloe interrupted.

"Fine. You win. I'll tell you. We're going to the… "

"Shhh! You can't tell us. It will ruin the surprise." Alexis held a finger up to her smiling mouth as she admonished the little girl.

"ZOO. We are going to the zoo." Smiling widely, Chloe looked around the table. "What do you guys think?"

"That sounds great, Chloe. Why don't you finish up your ice cream so we can head home, though? Tomorrow is a big day after all."

"What's tomorrow?"

"Tomorrow is Chloe's first day of first grade. She has been bouncing off the walls in excitement all weekend."

Smiling as she remembered how excited she had been for her first day of first grade, Kate looked over at Chloe and noticed that her eyes were starting to droop a little.

"Looks like you won't have too much trouble getting her to sleep tonight. I guess she had too much sugar on top of all the excitement. "

"I guess so. Seeing as Chloe looks like she is ready to pass out, how about we exchange numbers so that I can call you when I manage to come up with the perfect prize?"

"Sounds good. Here, hand me your phone."

"What are you going to do with it?"

"I am just going to send a text to my phone so that we have each other's numbers." While Kate quickly shot off a text to herself, she suddenly jolted a bit when she heard a loud thump and felt the table shake. Looking up from the phone, Kate smiled when she saw that Chloe's head was lying on the table next to her bowl—having finally succumbed to sleep.

With quick, practiced movements, Castle stood from the table, picked Chloe up and bundled her in her jacket before reaching back to grab his own. Handing Castle his phone back, Kate joined Alexis in gathering the rest of their things from around the table and tossing trash in the nearby trashcan. With one final look to make sure that they weren't forgetting something, the group walked out of the shop with Castle carrying a sleepy Chloe in his arms.

Climbing into a cab, Kate made her goodbyes before closing the door and telling the cabbie her address. Leaning back in the seat, Kate took a deep breath, amazed at how relaxed she was even after the amazing events of the evening. Before she could think too much about what she was doing, Kate pulled out her cell, noticing that she seemed to be missing her bag from the bookstore, and sent off a text to Rick.

_I had a good time tonight. It was nice to meet you and your girls. By the way, I seem to have forgotten my book. Did Alexis pick it up by any chance?_


	3. Surprises and an Interrogation?

A/N: I borrowed dialogue, character, etc. quite liberally from 1.04 (or 1.03 depending on where you look) _Hedge Fund Homeboys_ in this chapter.

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><p>Abruptly yanked from her first restful sleep in weeks by the incessant ringing of her cell, Kate groaned before rolling over and blindly reaching for the phone. Opening her eyes are her hand settled on the small piece of plastic, Kate let out a small sigh at the glaring red numbers that glared at her from the alarm clock: 4:59am. Grabbing the pen and notebook off the bedside table, Kate answered the phone and jotted down the address relayed. Still unwilling to leave the warmth of her bed, Kate allowed herself a minute to prepare for the day before throwing the comforter back and climbing quickly from the bed. Once up, Kate made quick work of getting ready and was out the door within ten minutes.<p>

Walking up to the crime scene, Kate was met by Ryan and Esposito. Without preamble, Kate quickly learned that the victim was 18 year old Donny Kendall, a senior as Redding Prep—a private school on Park Avenue.

Rubbing her hands together to try and ward off some of the early morning chill that seemed to become even more pervasive as they drew nearer to the lake, Kate found herself eternally grateful that she wouldn't have to join the ME in the water to examine the body.

"So, what've you got for me?" Kate asked, leaning slightly forward to get a better glimpse of the body.

"Single GSW to the chest, fairly large caliber and from the lack of blood inside the boat I'd say he wasn't killed at sea."

"Somebody moved him."

"He's got grass and dirt all up on his Chuckie T's, other than the post-mortem voyage, looks like a pop and drop. I'm guessing sometime late last night."

"Thanks Lanie." Turning to face the boys she quickly assigned them the task of coordinating the uniforms in checking the park for the actual murder sight before heading out to converse with the boy's parents and friends.

-o-O-o-

Four hours later, completely exhausted having learned nothing of value from either Donny's parents or his friends, Kate plopped down in the chair at her desk and pulled out her cell, hoping the boys had had better luck than she. Opening the text message that was waiting for her, a smile overtook her face as she realized that it was from Castle.

_Sorry it took so long to get back to you. Yes, Alexis accidentally grabbed your book. Is there somewhere we can meet so I can get it back to you?_

Chewing lightly on her lower lip, Kate quickly sent back a reply before she could overthink it.

_I can't get away right now. But if it isn't too much of an inconvenience for you, you could stop by my work and drop it off._

With rapid succession, plans were quickly made for Castle to stop by later that day.

Feeling reenergized after her conversation with Rick, Kate walked over to the blank whiteboard that stood nearby and starting filling it out with all the details she knew up to that point. Just as she capped the marker and placed it in the tray, Ryan walked in and added another picture to the board.

"Kill site?"

"Yep. Unis found it while canvasing. Looks like a drug deal gone wrong. We talked to someone who remembers seeing Donny in the park quite a lot late at night, seemingly dealing, but he wasn't the most reliable of sources so we are still looking into it."

"Then why the burial at sea?"

"Drug dealer trying to cover their tracks? Not really sure yet but Esposito is tracking down a 911 caller who called from about 50 feet from the crime scene last night. Maybe they can give us something more."

"Okay. Why don't you run down out vic's phone records. Maybe he was meeting up with someone last night that he didn't want his friends or parents to know about."

Leaning against the edge of her desk, Kate took in the board in front of her, trying to figure out what was missing.

The next thing Kate knew, a red poppy seemed to magically pop up before her eyes. Reaching out, Kate grabbed the stem of the flower before turning to face the man holding it. Kate couldn't keep the smile off her face as she turned as saw Rick standing beside her, bag in hand.

"What's this for?"

"I don't know. I saw it and thought of you. That's all. Are you busy right now?"

"Well, it's beautiful, Rick. And, a little, but I can take a small break."

With a quick stop to tell Ryan to inform her if anything new came up, Kate lead Rick into the break room. As they walked towards the break room, Kate tried to hide her smile as she heard Castle muttering under his breath, "She's a _homicide detective_? That is _so_ cool!" Closing the door behind them, Kate pointed out the table before grabbing two cups of coffee for them. Turning back towards the table, Kate was a little surprised to see a covered bowl and a wrapped present sitting on the table.

"You wrapped my book, Rick? Why?"

"Well, you see, I haven't quite finished your prize yet so I thought that a wrapped 'present' would tide you over until I could get around to it." Picking up a spoon off the table, Castle handed it to her before pulling the lid off the bowl. "And, I thought that maybe you could use a little pick me up. So, ice cream first, than you can unwrap your book."

"And what if I don't want any ice cream?" Kate asked, belying her words as she grabbed the spoon that Castle held out to her and dug into the bowl sitting in front of her.

As Kate savored her bite of ice cream, she couldn't help but laugh at the look of pure disgust that overtook Castle's face as he took a sip of coffee and nearly spit it out.

"That is disgusting! How can you drink that stuff?"

"You get used to it."

The next few minutes were spent in comfortable silence as the two of them steadily ate through the ice cream. When both their spoons scraped bowl and came back empty, Kate dropped her spoon, reached forward and grabbed the wrapped box before Castle could say anything. With quick, sure movements, she quickly removed the bow and unwrapped the box, releasing her book from their confines. Without thinking about what she was doing, Kate opened the book to the dedication page and was shocked to find that Castle had signed the book.

_To Kate—a beautiful, smart, extraordinary woman who treated me and my daughter's like family even though she didn't know us._

_Richard Castle_

"Thank you." Lightly tracing her fingers over the words written on the page, Kate looked up at Castle. "Although, I think you have it backwards. It was you guys who treated me like family, not the other way around."

"Kate. Do you know how many people I have met over the years? And do you know how many of them would have done what you did last night? None. While they may have considered coming to be with me, they never would have included my daughters or partaken in the contest like that. You treated us like family, and not like some celebrity and his tagalongs."

"I don't know about that, but, how about we just agree that we all treated each other like family?"

"Sounds like a plan. Now, before you walk away, or get pulled away, I have a question for you."

"And what is the question?" Kate finally asked after several seconds had passed and it appeared that he wasn't going to continue.

"Chloe was wondering if you would like to go to the zoo with us on Saturday. I was going to tell her no, that we couldn't impose on you like that, but then she pulled out that puppy dog face. You know how hard it is to resist that puppy dog face and so I agreed to ask—"

"Rick."

"—but don't feel like you have to say yes if you don't want to. We won't be disappointed if you do. Well, maybe a little, but it won't be a big deal."

"Castle! Shut up!"

Startled by the outburst, Castle's mouth snapped shut as he quickly looked up to find Kate glaring at him. Once he was suitably silent, the glare turned to a smile.

"Rick, I would love to go with you guys to the zoo on Saturday as long as I don't have a case. "

"Perfect! Chloe is going to just about blow a gasket when she hears. Thank you."

"It's no problem." Laughing slightly, Kate picked up the bowl and spoons and carried them to the sink. "Now, you should probably leave so I can get back to work, but thank you for the ice cream and for bringing my book."

Walking out into the bullpen, Castle walked Kate to her desk before turning and seeing the murder board. "Are these actual crime scene photos? Oh! He doesn't look much older than Alexis. What happened?"

"We're not sure yet, but it looks like a drug deal gone wrong."

Turning away from the board, Castle gave Kate a weak smile before heading for the elevator. After having taken only a few step, he suddenly stopped and turned back towards Kate.

"You should talk to his friends again. No way was he using, or dealing, without them knowing. Maybe they know more than they are letting on."

With that, Castle turned once again and boarded the elevator, looking a little haunted by the sight that he had just seen.


	4. Monkeying around

Saturday morning rolled around and Rick was quite content to be lying in bed warm and comfortable under his comforter. Just as he reached the climax of a particularly wonderful dream, he was suddenly jolted awake by something falling on him and bouncing up and down repeatedly.

"It's Saturday! It's Saturday! We're going to the zoo today! Up! Up! Up!" Chloe yelled pulling the comforter off of Rick exposing him to the chilly air.

With that, Rick slowly realized what exactly had fallen on him, and with tremendous effort he rolled over, grabbed Chloe and gently tossed her on to the bed beside him. Sitting up and looking through blurry eyes towards the alarm clock, Rick couldn't help but notice the time, and with that he rolled back over, jamming the pillow down on his head and pulling the comforter back over him.

"Chloe. It is only 6 am. We still have several hours. Please go back to sleep" Rick mumbled out from under the pillow.

"No daddy! It is time to get up! Kate is coming and I need help choosing what to wear. I want to look nice." Chloe added with a small pout.

Realizing that she was not going to relent he slowly started to get up.

"Ok. I'm up. How about you go get Alexis up while I get ready?"

"Ok!"

And with that, Chloe ran from the room.

Getting up, Rick quickly showered and put on jeans and a grey t-shirt and headed downstairs to make breakfast.

As Rick mixed the pancake batter, he heard a door slam and saw what could best be described as a zombie daughter heading down the stairs. As a grouchy Alexis slowly walked down the stairs, a heavy foot fall reverberated with each step taken and was accompanied by a low groan, Rick looked up to see that while still sleepy, a severe scowl covered her face as she glared daggers at him.

"Why did you let Chloe wake me up so early? She said you sent her in. WHY!"

"Well, I couldn't let you sleep in if I didn't get to, now could I?" Rick asked with a raised eyebrow and a twinkle in his eye. "And where is your _adorable_ sister anyways?"

"Evil! Evil! Evil! You knew I stayed up late and you still let Chloe wake me up. And in answer to your other question, she is tearing through her room like a tornado trying to choose out the perfect outfit. She seems quite _enthralled_ by Kate."

"That she does" Rick muttered under his breath. "Pancakes?" Rick questioned as he held up the pan holding three perfectly golden pancakes.

By the time all the pancakes were done, Chloe still had not made her way downstairs which worried Rick.

As he climbed the stairs to investigate, the sound of little whimpers reached his ears, prompting him to speed up. Reaching Chloe's room, he opened the door and was shocked by the amount of clothes scattered around the room. He didn't think there was a single item of clothing left in any of the drawers or in the closet.

"Honey! What's wrong?"

"I can't…figure…out…what..t..to wear today. I want….to look nice." Chloe managed to say in between sobs.

"Oh baby, come here" Rick said holding out his arms for a hug. As she crawled into his lap he tried to figure out the best way to help. "What about your purple flower shirt. You love that one"

"I don't know! What's Kate's favouritest colour?" Chloe said while burying her head in her dad's chest.

"I don't know baby, but I have an idea. How about we head downstairs and have some breakfast. Then we take a short nap. After we wake up we can call Kate and ask her what her favourite colour is. How does that sound?"

"I guess that will work" Chloe says as she finally calmed down enough to crawl out of her dad's lap and heads downstairs for breakfast.

After breakfast, Rick managed to get Chloe down for a small nap promising to wake her up in one hour so that she could call Kate.

Exactly one hour later, Alexis woke Chloe from her nap and handed her the cell phone with Kate's number already dialed.

"Okay Chloe, just hit the little green phone button and wait for Kate to answer."

Doing as instructed, Chloe hit the button and put the phone to her ear.

"Kate! It's Chloe and I have a question for you and dad said I could call you and ask my question if I promised to take a nap and I did so now I am calling you." Chloe yelled out in a single breath as soon as Kate answered the phone.

"Hi Chloe. So you took a nap already this morning? Well, since your dad promised you could ask me a question, what is your question?" Kate said with a little laugh.

"What's your favouritest colour?" Chloe asked in a serious tone.

"Purple." Kate responded just as seriously.

"Thank you Kate! See you soon!"

And without waiting for a response Chloe hung up the phone and started tearing through her room trying to find all her purple clothes. Having found them all she laid them out and started examining which one she liked best. Finally, she reached for the purple flower shirt Castle has suggested that morning and pulled it on over her head. Adding blue jeans, purple socks and her tennis shoes, Chloe was ready to go.

Running out into the hall, she found Alexis coming out of her room.

"NO! You have to wear purple!" Chloe yelled out as she saw that Alexis was wearing an orange shirt and jeans. "Purple is Kate's favourite colour so we all have to wear it!"

Hearing the commotion, Rick quickly ran up the stairs and heard the end of Chloe's pronouncement.

"Darling, I am sure Kate will like us no matter what we wears, but I will tell you what, if, when she gets here she is wearing purple, Alexis and I will change into purple shirts as well. Deal?"

"Deal."

They then headed to the kitchen and proceeded to make peanut butter and jelly sandwiched to take with them to the zoo. Just as they finished packing the sandwiches into a small backpack the doorbell rang.

Alexis, being closer, opened the door and when she saw Kate moaned. "You're wearing purple," and before forgetting her manners invited Kate inside and then dutifully marched off to her room to change her shirt.

"What was that all about?" Kate asked in confusion. "After Chloe's call this morning it seemed like a good idea to wear purple, but Alexis' response has me wondering if I made a mistake."

"Alexis is just a little irked that she has to go change. Chloe got upset this morning when she saw Alexis wearing orange. So, we made an agreement that if you were wearing purple when you got here we would all wear purple. So, if you will give me a minute, I am off to change into something purple. Oh the things I do for my daughters!" With a put-out expression on his face, he turned and headed for his room.

Reaching out her hand, Kate snagged Castle's wrist and pulled him back to her. "Are you okay?"

"Why wouldn't I be?"

"After what you saw on Monday—the pictures on the board, I was worried about you. I know how difficult it can be, especially seeing someone so close to Alexis' age, and I just wanted to know if you were okay. We can talk about it if you like."

"Did you get the guy who did it?"

"Yeah, we got the guys."

"Well, then I am okay. Knowing that you got the guys helps. A lot. Now, I really should go change my shirt before Chloe yells as me again for holding up the outing."

Letting go of his wrist, Kate only had a second to compose herself before she was nearly bowled over by Chloe.

"Kate! Kate! Kate! Are you excited to go to the zoo? I am! Can you tell? We are all set to go! I can't wait! You're wearing purple just like me. Do you like my shirt?"

Kate quickly grabbed up the bouncing girl in an attempt to get her to calm down.

"Yes Chloe, I am excited to go to the zoo too. I love your shirt. You look very nice."

Upon hearing Kate's declaration, Chloe calmed down and hugged Kate tightly.

Once everyone had changed and gathered in the entryway, they headed off for the Bronx Zoo.

Arriving at the Fordham Road entrance of the zoo, Rick insisted on taking pictures of everyone in front of the Rainy Gates. They took individual pictures as well as group photos. In fact, he even managed to convince another patron to take their picture in a manner reminiscent of The Beatles Abbey Road shot with Rick in the lead followed by Kate then Alexis and Chloe walking through the gate at an angle so that they would all be in the shot. While Kate felt ridiculous, she couldn't resist the charms of all three Castles when the ganged up on her. Once Rick was satisfied with the pictures taken, they managed to get inside and bought tickets.

Once inside, they immediately headed for the monkey house—a beautiful building that looked like a miniature New York County Courthouse with white pillars and instead of the people, the house was decorated with monkeys, including the statue on top. The closer the group got to the monkey house, they more the Castles started to act like monkeys. Since there was no way Kate was going to act like a monkey, she started snapping pictures of the group. Before entering the house, once again Rick insisted on a photo op. Acquiescing to his request, Kate started snapping photos of the group as they monkeyed around. Before she could stop him, Rick grabbed the camera from Kate's hands and shoved her towards the girls. Chloe immediately jumped on Kate and held on tight just like a baby monkey.

"Kate! I'm a monkey! See?"

Chloe then proceeded to hoot like a monkey. Not to be left out, Alexis came over and also started treating Kate like a jungle gym.

"If you are not going to act like a monkey then we have to get you involved somehow." Alexis said looking up at Kate with a smile.

All the while, Rick was snapping away at the sight before him. Finally, enough pictures were taken and they were allowed to enter the monkey house with Chloe still hanging on to Kate's back.

Looking around, even Kate couldn't help but be drawn in by the monkeys in the cages around her. Walking right up to the glass, Kate held out her hand and pressed it against the glass, all the while looking up with an awed expression on her face. On her back, Chloe reached out her hand like Kate was doing and had a similar expression of awe on her face. After a couple minutes, Kate put Chloe down allowing her to run around to all the other exhibits while Kate followed slowly behind.

After the monkey house the group headed to the children's zoo. While Alexis and Chloe ran all over the play structure, and down the slide and through the gopher tunnels, Kate and Rick sat and watched in comfortable silence.

"Chloe! Alexis! It is time to move on. The sea Lion feeding is in five minutes and I don't want to miss it. Chop, chop! Times a wasting." Rick finally called out after about thirty minutes had passed.

Not wanting to miss the feeding either, the girls ran over and they headed off to the sea lion pool.

"Look Daddy! They are feeding them fish" Chloe couldn't help but yell out during the feeding.

"Yep, doesn't the fish look yummy?" Rick asked with a mock serious expression on his face.

"Ew! Daddy! Fish is gross."

"But don't you like fish sticks? Those are made of fish."

"Well…they don't look like fish so they are okay." Chloe said with her faced scrunched up from thinking. "Those still have eyes." Chloe added with a shiver as she pointed to the sea lion pool.

Once they had their fill of watching the seas lions eat they headed out again.

"If we hurry we can see the tiger demonstration. What do you guys think? Or we can go eat. Your choice."

"Tigers!" the two girls yelled out in unison with Kate's calmer vote.

"Tigers it is then. Hurry!"

Practically running, they managed to get to the tiger house in time for the demonstration. As they watched, they saw the trainer lead the tiger through exercises like standing up on its hind legs to show its belly and bearing it teeth. Throughout the whole thing, everyone was leaning forward and staring at the tiger in awe.

"It's so beautiful" Alexis sighed.

After the exhibition, they wandered around the exhibit and couldn't help but stop at one particularly interesting set up. On the wall hung a giant life size poster of a tiger standing up with a measuring stick next to it showing that it was eight feet tall and allowing people to compare themselves to the tiger. When they saw this, everyone wanted their turn while pictures were taken.

"Chloe, come here. You want to climb on my shoulders and see if the two of us together aren't taller than the tiger?" Rick excitedly called out.

With that, Chloe quickly ran over and climbed onto her dad's shoulders. Rick held tightly onto Chloe's legs and carefully stood up. Once they were fully upright, Alexis pointed the camera in their direction and directed them to roar. While Rick held Chloe, she curled her hands in the shape of claws and roared dramatically at the same time as Rick. Rick then put Chloe down and directed Alexis to stand in front of the measuring tape.

"Kate, why don't you join Alexis for a picture?"

"Please Kate?" Alexis quickly inserted before Kate could say no.

Agreeing Kate went forward and joined Alexis for a photo.

"Now a picture of all my girls" Rick said pushing Chloe towards them.

After a quick discussion, all three girls turned their backs to Rick, then quickly turned around lunging a foot towards Rick and curling their hands and roaring while Rick snapped a couple shots of them.

Stopping for a quick lunch, they downed their sandwiches and then headed for the butterfly garden.

Walking in, the whole group stopped and just stared and the sight before them. All around was a rainbow of colour and flight as flowers bloomed and butterflies flew overhead.

As they slowly walked around the garden the sights before them had them all watching in silence. That is, until Chloe let out a loud squeal.

"Daddy! A butterfly landed on my nose!"

Looking over Kate saw the cutest sight with both Chloe's eyes pointed directly at her nose and her hands up in the air almost as if she was under arrest. After that, they group became much more talkative.

Finally reaching the end of the garden, the Castles ran towards the cardboard cutouts of bugs were they had holes for faces and arms so you could actually be a bug. At this point, Kate was having so much fun that she willingly got behind the cutouts and became both a butterfly and a bumblebee.

Finishing up, Rick turned and noticed that Chloe was starting to drag a little.

"Okay, one more thing and then we are going home. How about the Wild Asia Monorail?"

Agreeing that it was the best option they headed off for the final attraction of the day. Climbing aboard they whizzed around the area dedicated to animals of Asia.

About half way through the ride, Chloe slumped over on Kate's side, fast asleep. Holding her close, Kate continued to watch the animals go by while gently stroking Chloe's head.

Once the ride was over, Rick woke Chloe up. Leaning her head against her dad's leg, with her eyes barely open, Chloe slowly walked back to the car to head home.


	5. Angel Hair Pasta?

Wednesday morning, after their weekend at the zoo, Kate walked into the precinct bright and early to find an envelope addressed to her sitting on her desk. Recognizing the handwriting as Rick's, Kate slit open the envelope to find a picture and a letter inside.

_Kate, _

_ This picture is my favourite from our day at the zoo and I thought you might like a copy too. _

Before reading any more of the letter, Kate pulled out the picture and saw that Rick had captured the moment in the monkey house with her and Chloe staring at the monkeys with identical expression on their faces. Seeing that, Kate couldn't help but smile at the memory and leaned the picture up against her computer monitor and then continued to read the letter.

_I know it seems like we have been inviting you over a lot, but Chloe wanted me to make sure to extend an invitation to you for dinner and movie night on Friday. If you have other plans, it is not a big deal but we would all love it if you could make it. If you can, festivities start at 6pm sharp. Hope you like spaghetti._

_Rick_

-o-O-o-

Pulling several noodles from the boiling water, Rick handed one to each of his daughters while keeping one for himself.

"On the count of three. One. Two. Three!"

And with that, each of them threw their noodles at various cabinets around the room.

"Mine almost stuck!" Chloe exclaimed with an excited squeal as her noodle slowly fell from the lower cabinet door onto the floor. "Again! Again!"

Fishing more pasta from the water, this process continued, at one point even developing into a mini food fight, until the various surfaces, horizontal and vertical, of the kitchen, as well as each of the Castles participating, were decorated with noodles and the pot sat empty except for the still boiling water. Without a second thought, Rick quickly added more dry noodles to the water to cook. Before he could even contemplate picking up the thrown noodles, a knock sounded from the front door.

With that, Chloe took off like a shot, opened the door and threw herself at Kate for an enthusiastic hug.

"Kate! Guess what we are having for dinner! You are going to love it!"

"Well…" Kate began while reaching a hand out towards Chloe's ear, "based on this noodle draped oh so artfully over your ear and these other ones stuck in your hair and the red stain on your apron, I am going to guess…spaghetti. Am I right?" Kate questioned while tickling the little girl.

Through the laughter Kate heard, "You're right". Knowing that she had gotten her answer and that the little girl would be incapacitated with laughter for at least another 10 seconds, Kate stopped tickling her and quickly removed her coat and shoes. Before she could do more than hang her coat off a nearby chair, Kate found herself being dragged by the hand into the kitchen by the enthusiastic girl.

"Hey Kate! Dinner's going to be a little late since we needed to make more noodles" Alexis said looking up from the pot of sauce she was stirring. "The first batch mysteriously disappeared from the pot" Alexis added with a completely straight face.

Looking around the kitchen, Kate couldn't help but let a large smile engulf her face as she took in the sight of the noodles scattered around the kitchen, covering every imaginable surface, including a couple hanging from the lights. What really got Kate though where the noodles stuck to Alexis' back and wiggling from her arm as she stirred the sauce. Not able to hold it in any longer, Kate let out a gut wrenching burst of laugher and fell into one of the stools at the bar.

Unable to keep up the pretense any longer, Alexis couldn't help but join in the laughter, almost falling to the ground from the exertion.

"I can see that" Kate finally replied as the laughter subsided.

Finally managing to sit in one of the bar stools, Kate pulled Chloe close to her and started pulling noodles from her hair as Alexis and Rick continued to finish cooking the pasta. "So, Chloe, the other night your dad mentioned you learned your more…dramatic flair from your grandmother. Where is she?"

"Oh, Grams is on tour. She says the play she is in is a reimagining of the classic works of _the Bard._" As she spoke the title, Chloe flung her arms wide. Lowering her voice she turned around to face Kate. "I don't really know what that means but dad always laughs when I say it."

"I can't imagine why." With a serious expression, Kate turned Chloe back around and continued to remove noodles. "Tell me about your Grams."

"Well, she had bright red hair like Alexis and wears crazy outfits. She likes to fling her arms about when she talks—_she says she is being dramatic _—and she is the greatest Grams in the whole wide world. You would love her."

"I am sure I would. When is she coming home from tour?"

"October seventeenth. That's seven days before my birthday!"

"Seven days before your birthday. And how old are you going to be?"

"Seven! It is going to be the greatest birthday ever! Even mom says she may be able to come this year!"

"Dinner's ready," Rick suddenly called out as he carried the bowl of noodles to the table as Alexis carried over the bowl of sauce.

Dinner was a light affair with conversation and laughter flowing easily as they talked about how school had gone and some of the funnier aspects of Kate's job. Just as the plates of cheesecake, piled high with cherries and whipped cream, were placed before them on the table by Alexis, Rick suddenly snapped his fingers, stood up from the table and headed for his office. Returning a couple minutes later, he handed a stack of photos to Kate.

"These are the pictures from the zoo. I thought you might want to look at them too."

As she looked at the pictures, she couldn't help smiling as she remembered the day. When she reached the picture of Chloe with the butterfly on her nose, Kate couldn't help but laugh once more.

Wanting to know what Kate was laughing about Chloe got up from her chair and ran around behind Kate.

"That's a picture of me!" Chloe yelled out and started laughing when she saw her expression at seeing the butterfly so close—a mixture of being startled and loving seeing the butterfly so close. "Daddy, can I have that picture?"

"Can I have a copy as well" Kate couldn't help but ask still staring at the picture. "Could I also have the picture of us entering the zoo in a line and the picture of me and the girls at the tiger poster?"

"Of course. Kate you can have whatever pictures you want out of that stack and Chloe, I will get you another copy."

Almost done looking through the pile, Kate ran across a candid picture of her and Rick. It must have been taken by Alexis while she and Chloe were playing in the Children's Zoo as it had Rick and Kate sitting, each turned slightly towards the other, clearly watching each other while also watching the girls, each with a serene smile on their face. Seeing that picture, Kate quickly added it to the pile of pictures she was going to take with her. By time Kate was done looking through the pile she had a stack of about ten photos to take home with her. Before she forgot them, Kate gently tucked them into her purse and headed back to the table to help clean up.

"Nope! No helping clean up this. You already helped clean up the noodles which we shouldn't have let you do since you are the guest, so, go sit on the couch while we set up the movie." Rick told Kate as he gently grabbed her shoulders and turned her towards the couch and gave her a gentle shove.

"What are we watching?" Kate asked.

"Well, we had another ice cream night and this time Chloe won the right to choose the movie and I won the right to choose snacks" Alexis announced and added with a conspiratorial whisper "we never let dad win the right to choose snacks. I am sure you can imagine why based on his ice cream creation while you were with us."

"Very wise of you." Kate intoned before she turned to see the little girl putting a DVD in the player, "So, Chloe, what are we watching?"

"_Tangled_! It is the story of Rapunzel and it is so pretty and so funny you are going to love it!" Chloe answered, once again saying everything in one breath while jumping up and down a little as she ran over to jump in to Kate's lap.

Carrying over bowls and cups, Alexis and Rick came over and joined Kate and Chloe, one on either side of them.

"So, what are we snacking on today?" Kate asked as a bowl and cup were handed to her

"Well, since we just had cheesecake I decided to keep it simple, popcorn, some candy, chocolate and non-chocolate, and soda. I hope you don't mind having soda. If you do, I can go and get you water or some other beverage."

"No, soda is fine. Are we ready to get started then?"

Once everyone was comfortable, Rick started the movie and they all sat back to enjoy it.

Kate quickly realized just how many times they must have seen the movie when from the very beginning they were quoting lines, starting with Alexis' dramatically saying "This is the story of how I died." When they reached the first musical number, Kate couldn't help but laugh as Rick changed the lyrics of "Mother Knows Best" to "Father Knows Best" and looked pointedly at Alexis as he sang while Alexis just rolled her eyes at him.

When they reached the scene with Flynn Rider and Maximus fighting with each other over the satchel, Kate was in stitches with tears rolling down her face as she curled her body around Chloe and tried to keep the laughter in, although, none of the Castles were trying to hide their laughter at both the scene and at Kate.

Once the laughter had subsided, Kate was able to really enjoy the movie as she slowly ate her popcorn and candy.

"Kate, can you braid my hair like Rapunzel's" Kate suddenly heard a little voice ask her as they watched Rapunzel get her hair braided by the little girls in the town center.

Kate just sat stock still with a stunned look on her face unable to determine the best way to respond to that request.

"Honey, I don't think Kate knows how to braid hair. Why don't you let me or Alexis braid it for you?" Rick asked his daughter in an attempt to give Kate a way out of the situation.

"No. I know how to braid hair. I will do it." Kat blurted out suddenly.

"But, how about instead of braiding it like Rapunzel, Kate and I each braid a side of your hair?" Alexis added.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah! Let's do that!" Chloe eagerly agreed.

"Normal braids or French braids" Kate asked Alexis.

"I am thinking French. You good with that?"

"Yes. Sounds good."

So, as the movie continued, Rick, instead of watching the movie found himself drawn to the sight of his girls sitting beside him giggling and talking about the movie like they had been doing that for years.


	6. Intentions

A/N: For starters, this chapter is not my usual fluff that comes from this story, but I felt it was necessary at this point in time, so I hope you still like it even though it isn't my norm. Also, this chapter is a bit more dialogue heavy then usual.

Secondly, sorry it took so long for this chapter, but this chapter really didnt want to be written. I wrote a piece of it and couldnt get the stuff to go around that piece for the longest time.

Thirdly, HUGE thank you to Andriana for talking through this chapter with me and even suggesting the ending.

Lastly, HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY! to everyone who is celebrating today.

Disclaimer: I do not own the show, and that is probably a really good thing considering how fluffy this story is in comparison to the actual show. I also do not own any of the characters (except Chloe) nor do I make any money off of this story.

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><p>In the two weeks that had passes since the last movie night, Kate had had two awful cases that had had her in a foul mood. However, Kate was hoping to get rid of some of that bad mood with the latest movie night with the Castles. In an attempt to help make the night more fun, Kate had even brought some snacks with her.<p>

After knocking on the front door, Kate was greeted by a solemn Rick as he slowly opened the door in an eerie fashion.

"Miss Alexis requests your presence in my office" Rick announced in his best impression of a creepy butler.

Leaning in towards Kate, Rick conspiratorially whispered, "I think she is planning on asking what your intentions are."

As he leaned away he grabbed Kate's arm and gently pulled her into the apartment and lead her towards his office, grabbing the snacks and her purse and jacket as he gently shoved her through the office doorway.

Walking into Rick's office, Kate was immediately confronted by a serious Alexis seated in the chair behind the very solid wood desk.

"Please have a seat." Alexis told Kate without preamble. "You seem like a really nice and really fun person, but I know you are a fan of my dad's writing and I need to know your intentions, your reasoning for spending so much time with Chloe, my dad and myself. Because, if you are just using Chloe and me to get to my dad, you need to understand that that is not going to work and it would be better for everyone if you just ended the charade now and walked away."

Although Kate had been prepared for the 'what are your intentions' conversation with Alexis, she was unprepared for the approach that Alexis took with it and because of that, Kate ended up plopping heavily into the chair on the side of the desk opposite Alexis. Leaning back into the chair she had sat down in, Kate carefully contemplated the best way to respond.

"I have a high stress job. I think that is something that is important for you to understand before I can really get you to understand my actions. When I met you that night in the bookstore, I intended to buy my book, go home and take a relaxing bubble bath with a glass of wine and to some extent that is what I really wanted. However, after the ice cream, I realized something. I realized that I was more relaxed then I had felt in a long time. I also felt more wanted, and dare I say it, loved then I have in a while. That may not be how you guys saw it, but it has been a long time since anyone just accepted me like that. It was nice not to have the pressure on me and to just be me for a while. That being said, I don't know what my intentions are. I just know I like hanging out with your family. Do you get what I am saying?"

"So…you are saying that you were not using us to get to our dad, but you are using us as a stress reliever? How is that any better? You are still using us. We are not objects. Chloe is getting really attached to you and all you see her as is a convenient way to relieve your stress so you can do your job. If that is really all you see us as, I think you need to stop accepting invitations and just cut it off quickly because Chloe does not need that kind of heartbreak, and neither does my dad."

"What about you?" Kate immediately asked.

"What about me?"

"Do you think you deserve to have your heart broken like that? You mentioned Chloe and you mentioned your dad, but you didn't say anything about yourself."

"You can't get your heart broken if you don't get attached."

Hearing that, Kate couldn't help but sit up a little straighter and make as if to reach around the desk to touch Alexis, to comfort her.

"No! Don't come closer!" Alexis declared as she scooted back farther into the chair she was sitting in.

Heeding this, Kate leaned back into her chair to hear Alexis out.

"My dad and Chloe love too quickly and too deeply, but if I have learned anything over the years it is that getting attached only leads to heartache. I have my mother and my ex-stepmother, Gina, to thank for this knowledge." Alexis said in answer to Kate's unspoken question. "With both my mother and Gina, I grew attached and each time I did, they left me, abandoned me, leaving me heartbroken. After Gina, I swore to never get attached again. Even now, while I love my mother, I don't get too attached because I expect her to leave me at every turn, and she never fails in that one expectation I have of her."

With that, Alexis leaned back in her chair and waited for Kate to make the next move.

After thinking about what Alexis had said, Kate asked, "Does the fact that we are having this conversation at this point in time mean that you yourself are starting to get attached and want to head this off before that happens and you get heartbroken?"

"No! Wait, what do you mean by 'this point in time'?"

"I mean, if this was all about your father and Chloe, you would have had this conversation after ice cream or after the zoo, instead, we are having it now, a month later, which leads me to believe that you yourself are getting attached" Kate gently stated. "Alexis, I don't know exactly what I feel for you, your dad and Chloe, but I do know that being with you, spending time with you has changed me. For the better, I think. You guys make me feel almost alive again. I know I care for you and don't want anything to happen to you, and I promise that I would never intentionally hurt you guys, but I cannot say anything beyond that. I hope that that is enough for you, but if it is not I will leave you now so that I don't hurt you. I don't want you to hurt because of me, so say the word and I will leave now and promise to leave you and your family alone."

After several moments of silence, Kate started to feel anxious and began to get up to leave, thinking that it would be for the best if she left then.

"Kate, please don't go." Alexis softly whispered so quietly that Kate barely heard her.

As Kate sat back down, Alexis quietly asked, "What did you mean by 'you guys make me feel almost alive again'? Did something happen?"

With a heavy sigh, Kate leaned back into the chair and tried to figure out how best to answer that question.

"When I was just a little older than you, nineteen, my mother was murdered. For the longest time I blamed her. I took her murder as her abandoning me and my father when we still needed her. After a while, I stopped blaming her and being angry at her and decided to try and catch her killer. However, I became so involved in the case that I lost all sense of myself and what I needed. I lived for the case. When I realized I couldn't solve it, it nearly broke me. I then threw myself into my job and used it as a means of living, but mostly I was not. Meeting you guys helped pull me out of the hole I had been trying to get out of. You guys are helping me live again. That is what I meant by that."

At that, both women leaned back into their chairs to think. After a couple of minutes of silence, Alexis slowly stood up, walked around the desk and gave Kate a hug.

"I am sorry to hear that, Kate. I think you may be right though. I think I am becoming attached and I really don't want to go through that pain again, but I would like you to stay."

Before anything more could be said Chloe suddenly burst into the room.

"Come on you guys! It's movie night. You can't sit in here all night. Hurry! Hurry! Hurry!"

"All right, Chloe, we are coming now. If you go find your dad, you and he can start setting up the treats I bought and the movie. We will be out in a minute." Kate said.

"We should probably get out there before Chloe or your dad breaks something or they drag us out of here." Kate said turning to Alexis. "But, are we okay?"

"Yeah, Kate, I think we are okay. Now, let's go see what they have set up for us tonight."

With one final hug, they both got up and headed towards the door to enjoy their movie night.

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><p>AN part deux: I am starting to run low on ideas, or maybe I have just not been inspired lately, so if you have any ideas for interactions you would like to see feel free to leave a review. If I use it, I will be sure to credit you for your idea. Once again, I have no idea when the next chapter will be up, but thank you so much for reading this.


	7. Ambush

A/N: I am so sorry about the wait for this chapter. I have been fighting with it for ages now. I feel like this chapter has taken a turn for the better with the wonderful help that agentchuckles gave me. This chapter would probably still not be coming out if it were not for her help. Of course, she also seems to think that I should have some idea of where this story is going in the next couple chapters (crazy idea, I know).

I also want to thank Andriana for always being willing to read through the chapters for me.

Thank you to everyone for the reviews and the love you guys are giving (alerts and favs). While I might not be writing any faster because of them, I at least feel terrible for making you guys wait this long (what is it 19 days?). So, without further ado, the latest chapter.

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><p>After a hectic Monday morning of chasing down dead end lead after dead end lead, Kate swiftly stepped off the elevator only to see a man sitting in her desk chair, twisting to and fro every couple seconds while staring at the murder board, seemingly lost in thought.<p>

After watching him for a minute or two, Kate walked up beside the man and grabbed the backrest of the chair as he swiveled away from her, causing him to tip forward slightly.

"Oh gravity, thou art a heartless bitch" Castle lamented while attempting to right himself.

"Rick, what are you doing here?" Kate asked as she pushed him the rest of the way out of her chair.

"I thought you may be sick of getting notes by now and decided to come and personally invite you." Rick cheekily answered as he sat down in the chair next to Kate's desk.

"Invite me to what?" Kate finally asked after fruitlessly waiting a minute in the hopes that he would continue.

"Well, this is actually a multifaceted invite, but, here is part one." Rick said as he handed an envelope to Kate.

Opening the envelope, Kate pulled out what appeared to be a piece of cardstock in the shape of a magnifying glass with an image of a magnified fingerprint. Inspecting it closely, Kate realized that the friction ridges were actually text inviting her to Chloe's seventh birthday party.

"You are holding a detective birthday party for Chloe and you are inviting me?" Kate asked looking up from the card.

"Yes. You should have heard Chloe. When she heard that you were a detective she asked, 'Just like Nancy Drew,' and when I told her yes she declared that she 'had to have a detective birthday party' so that she 'could be just like you' and she also insisted that you HAD to be there. So, what do you say? Will you come?"

"I don't know…"

"Please! You have to. For Chloe."

"I just don't know. Will there be costumes involved?"

"Yes! Everyone has to come dressed as their favourite fictional detective."

"Fictional? Really? Let me guess, you did that just so I couldn't get away with dressing as myself."

"Not at all my dear detective," Rick said with a mischievous smirk on his face. "It was so that Chloe wouldn't dress as you. It just had the added bonus that you couldn't dress like you either."

"I guess I could come," Kate said after some thought. "That is one of my weekends off so I am pretty sure that I can make it. Who are you dressing up as anyway?"

"I am dressing up at the ubiquitous Sherlock Holmes while the girls are dressing up as the Dana girls. We were kind of hoping you would dress up as Nancy Drew." Rick added with a lift of his eyebrow.

"I guess if I don't have a choice in the matter, Nancy Drew is not a bad option. But what? You don't want to be Ned to my Nancy?" Kate teasingly asked him

"I would love to be Ned to you Nancy" Rick whispered seductively in Kate's ear causing her to shiver slightly.

"We'll see" Kate replied with a smirk.

Leaning back into his chair, Rick continued, "However, I don't remember Ned being particularly…adept at solving crimes which would not do at all for this theme."

"Why else do you think I suggested it?" Kate addressed him with a smirk.

"Ouch. You wound me detective" Castle dramatically exclaimed, clasping his hands over his heart.

"You said today's invite was multifaceted" Kate said, ignoring Castle's response. "So, what else did you want to ask me?"

"Oh! Yes!" Rick exclaimed as he sat up straighter. "Two. Now that you have agreed to come to the party, I was wondering if you would be willing to help me and Alexis a little bit with the party planning seeing as you are a detective."

"Rick, what are you doing?" Kate couldn't help but ask as Castle whipped out his phone and quickly dialed a number.

"Calling Alexis." Castle responded as if it was the most natural thing to do in the middle of a conversation leaving Kate slightly perplexed as she leaned back in her chair.

"Hey Alexis. Kate and I were just talking party details and I remembered that you had wanted to talk to her, so here she is."

Before she knew it the cell phone was being shoved into her hand.

"Hey Alexis. You wanted to talk to me?"

"Hey Kate. I was just wondering when it would be best to get together to plan the party. Dad said he would call if you said yes, so I am assuming you said yes."

Looking over the phone, Kate glared at Rick who was doing his best to look busy by shuffling papers into neat stacks.

Taking a second to take a deep breath to calm herself down, Kate nonchalantly replied, "I guess I must of."

"Oh, Kate! Did you not actually agree to help? I am so sorry. I don't want to force you into this. I can find someone else to help me. It is no big deal."

"No, Alexis. It is fine. So what exactly do you need my help with?"

"Well, dad and I agreed to split responsibilities this year and I am in charge of the mystery while dad is in charge of food and decorations. So, I guess I need help with the mystery aspect. If you are up for that, when would be best to meet?"

"Wait. Your dad, the best selling mystery writer, allowed you to take on the mystery for the day? I can't imagine that happening at all. We are talking about the same guy, right"

"Well…allowed might be a the wrong word to use. It is more, I won the right to plan the mystery by beating him at a game of laser tag."

"Yeah, that sounds about right. Now, back to you question. How does Friday afternoon sound? Does that work for you?"

"Yeah. That would be great. Until tonight, bye."

"Rick!" Kate said as she menacingly turned towards him. "What was that? Were you so worried that you would not be able to rope me in that you had to recruit your daughter to do it?"

"I…I…I just really didn't want you to say no. and I know you can't deny Alexis, especially after the conversation you had last night. Please don't hit me…or throw my cell at me" Castle added as he cowered in his chair with his hands up protecting his face.

"Seeing as you have roped me into attending, and wearing a costume, I guess I could help out. It _could_ be fun. But don't think that I am going to forget this. There will be payback." Kate added as she not so gently tossed the cell onto Castle's lap.

"Great," Rick declared as he let out a sigh of relief and slowly lowered his arms and picked up his cell. "I know you are busy, but how about we plan for Saturday, early, so we have time to talk over what we need and where we should go. I will provide breakfast," Rick added as an incentive.

"I already have plans on Saturday, but what about Sunday? And breakfast had better be amazing if you want me to get out of bed early on my day off," Kate added grumpily.

"The best breakfast in town."

"Now that that is decided, what did Alexis mean by 'until tonight'? Am I doing something tonight that I am unaware of?"

"Oh yeah! Right. That was the final part of the invitation. Alexis would like to invite you over to dinner tonight as a, and I quote, apology for the ambush and a thank you for the conversation, and if I am not reading too much into this, I think it is also a sort of acceptance of you in her life kind of thing."

"I guess you don't really leave me a choice in the matter, do you? What time should I be there?"

"Seven sound okay?"

"Yeah. Sounds great. See you tonight."

Taking a step behind Rick as they stood to leave, Kate quickly reached up, snagged Castle's ear and twisted.

"If you ever try that stunt again, I will do something a whole lot more painful than twisting your ear."

"Duly noted." Castle replied while rubbing his newly released ear and watching Kate walk off to the break room.

-o-O-o-

As Kate stood in the break room pouring a cup of coffee for herself she couldn't help but stare at Rick as he stood waiting for the elevator. As she watched she noticed Ryan and Esposito quickly, yet stealthily, heading for the elevator. Before Kate could move to figure out what the boys were up to, she saw them stop, one on either side of Castle, and gently move him slightly away from the elevator. As she watched, the boys took turns leaning in and seemingly tag teaming Rick in a style reminiscent of how they interrogated suspects. After about a minute, the elevator finally arrived and Rick took off like a shot, almost running in his attempt to get away from Kate's partners. Making a mental note to ask Ryan and Esposito, or Rick, about that later, she picked up her coffee and walked back to her desk.

As Kate drew near to her desk, she could hear the telephone ringing. Walking over, she sat he cup of coffee down and reached for the receiver. Hearing what the dispatcher was telling her, Kate stood a little stiffer and raised a beckoning hand up to Ryan and Esposito as she wrote something down.

"We just got an address on Caleb Larson." Kate said as she handed the paper to Ryan.

"Let's go visit him, shall we?" she added as they headed for the elevator.


	8. Psych

A/N: I am trying something new with this chapter, so please bear with me. This chapter is Kate-centric and so it is a little light on Castleness, but, please, enjoy.

Thank you to slider23 for the inspiration for this chapter.

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><p>They arrived at the address fifteen minutes after one. The SWAT team was set to arrive at one thirty so they had no choice but to wait. She surveyed the area as they waited for their back up to arrive. It was a modest area in the shady part of Brooklyn. There were 9 condominium buildings arranged in a row, spaced a few meters apart from each other. They rose up to four floors and looked relatively new. As she looked around, she couldn't help but notice the kids playing in the mini playground located to the far left, just past the last condominium which was Caleb Larson's last known location.<p>

_Too young to realize the evils of this world_. She thought to herself as she parked her car behind the third building from the left.

"So, what's our plan?" She turned to her right as Esposito spoke and strapped his vest on. She opened her mouth to reply when a voice from the backseat beat her to it.

"I say...let's wait for back up."

Glancing in the rearview mirror, she waited for Ryan to check the magazine of his gun before she made eye contact with him and gave him a nod of approval. She then turned to Esposito and shrugged.

As a SWAT van pulled up directly behind them, Ryan and Esposito disembarked from the vehicle in unison as if it were a cue that they had been waiting for. Taking a second for herself, Kate took a deep breath and closed her eyes.

"Beckett, you coming?" Esposito asked slapping him hand on the roof of the car as he leaned in through the open door to see where she had gotten to. Startled, her eyes snapped open and she cursed herself for floating away.

She gave him a small smile and a nod. "I'll be there in a second. Just need to put my vest on." Esposito threw her a puzzled glance as she was normally excited to go on a bust like this but decided to walk away.

She looked at her reflection in the rearview mirror as she wistfully smiled to herself. She couldn't help but compare her smile to the one she used to wear before-before her life went to hell. It was pained... bitter... scarred. She can remember that day distinctly, the day she lost her parents-one to the murderous bastard who stole her mother from them and one to the bottle.

~0~0~

She was 19-fresh out of high school (barely into college), hormones barely in check and rebellion in full swing-well, sometimes. But there was no doubt that she loved her parents. She may do crazy things but she knew her limitations. She knew not to hurt her parents. She knew how it worked: ignore some chores, stay up later than allowed, drink a few beers, buy a motorcycle... Her parents were understanding. They knew what she was doing but they trusted her enough to not do anything she couldn't handle. After all, she was the top student in school. Her parents knew of her activities, not because they had spies in her school, but because she told them, face to face, in honest to God conversations.

She distinctly remembered that night. They were supposed to go out for dinner. To go out as a family. They did that a lot- go out. She loved her parents, they knew that. They loved her, she knew that. Her mom has always been a busy person but she never lied to them. Even when her work was getting in the way, she would always find a way to show up.

A few minutes later, as they waited for their third counterpart to arrive, Kate and her Dad sat in comfortable silence on the couch as the TV in front of them droned on. By the time an hour had passed, they could sit in silence no longer.

"Should we wait?" She asked her father. Her Dad gave her a dry smile indicating his answer. _Yes. We should._

She offered him a smile in return and then keeled over sideways holding her stomach. "If I die of malnourishment, it's your fault." She laughingly joked.

"I'm afraid that that is just a risk that I am going to have to take."

So they sat there and waited for an hour more. She saw her dad glance at his watch once or twice and she heard his stomach grumble. She watched as he stood up wearing his "I've made a decision" face.

"Let's go, kiddo. I'm sure your mom will show up at the restaurant."

She gave him a grin as she jumped off the couch and turned off the television.

She didn't know then that, years later, she would ponder as to what could have happened if she hadn't said yes..._What if she called home to ask for help? To ask them to fetch her? To have them wait for her at home instead?_If they'd waited for a few more hours for her. She knew she couldn't have helped... but what if?

They ended up having a nice dinner. During the meal, they came to a consensual agreement-since this was the first time her mom was late, they would forgive her. And maybe bring her some takeout, or maybe not. Perhaps they would only give it to her after making her feel properly ashamed for not calling them. Her mom. She was never one for calling. _I'd rather talk to you when I can see your face rather than imagine it_,she reasoned.

They were laughing at some bad joke that her dad had made as they pulled into the driveway. They got out of the car and she skipped up the driveway in a childish manner, relishing in the fact that she can still do that. So with the bag of takeout in one hand, she hummed a tune and sped ahead of her Dad. She heard him lock the car doors and run after her, prompting her to run faster.

_You two are so silly. _Her mom often scolded them.

They reached the porch steps and Kate put down the bag as they were bent over, holding their sides as their bodies were wracked with laughter at their foolishness. She stood up first, being able to reel in her laughter and catch her breath quicker than her dad. She looked up and was surprised to see the a man sitting on the porch swing as if in wait. As he saw them approach, the man stood up from his seat and stood rigidly facing them. Realizing that she was no longer laughing, her dad looked up at the man standing on their porch.

"Mister? Can I help you?" Her dad asked, ignoring the last vestiges of laughter still bubbling inside.

"Sir, I am Detective John Raglan. Is this the home of one Johanna Beckett?" The man asked in response.

At those words, the light of day that was left seemed to fade away completely as Kate sunk to the stairs, just knowing where the man was going with that line of questioning.

"Yes. She is my wife." Jim finally had the presence of mind to answer.

"Sir, I am sorry to inform you that your wife was found murdered this evening..."

What Detective Raglan may have said after that was completely lost on Kate as the world lost sound and seemed to dissolve around her and all she could focus on was the man in front of her, standing so casually in his suit with a badge and gun clipped to his belt.

She sat on the steps. Unmoving. Unfeeling. What do you say when you've lost an important person in your life? How would you feel? Which feeling do you give into at first? These thoughts swirled in her head but it hadn't fully sunk in. She thought of her mother. Her last memories of her. All the times they spent together. Her sweet, wonderful, kind mother-such a lovely soul, lost to a fate so tragic...so undeserved.

_She's happy_, Kate told herself. _No one can tell her what to do anymore._

But all the platitudes in the world were not going to make this better, it was not going to change what had happened. Finally, she let one thing sink in: her mother was not coming back. Suddenly, everything happening around her became irrelevant... useless... stupid. All she knew was that: _It hurts._

_It fucking hurts._

~0~0~

She looked at the watch adorning her wrist. It's the only tangible reminder she has left of her Dad-a reminder of how happy her dad had been, back when he still cared about life...about his family. Now, all that was left was a washed up and drunk, shell of a man. Looking at the watch, she couldn't help but long for those days back, the days when he was happy-hell, the days she was happy-and her mother was there.

She got the vest from the backseat and strapped it in. She took a deep sigh, closed her eyes and remembered an image of their happy family-ingrained it in her memory-and then unbidden, another image of a happy family popped into her head. A family she seemed to be becoming more of a part of every day. A new family. Finally, she opened her eyes, chambered a bullet in her gun and stepped out of the car. _I'm ready._

~0~0~

"Our suspect lives on the third floor. Let's split up into two teams. Ryan, take four members of SWAT and approach from the left." She instructed.

"Esposito, you're coming with me." She pointed to the two remaining members of the SWAT team-snipers. Better safe than sorry, she thought to herself. "... and you, set up: there..." she pointed to the building next to the suspect's building. "...and there." She pointed to a building across the street, a warehouse for toys.

The snipers left to set their apparatus up. She looked at Ryan. "Remember, try not to spook him. The four of you will go in first," she told the SWAT members. "Avoid gunfire, if possible."

"Let's go."

Ryan and his SWAT team climbed up the stairs as silently as possibly, hoping to avoid informing anyone of their arrival. The SWAT team, led by Ryan, placed themselves on the left side of the door to the condo of interest while first Kate and then Esposito flanked it on the right side.

"Go in first and clear the room. Understood?" She whispered to Ryan. Ryan nodded seriously and knocked on the door.

"Caleb Larson. NYPD. We have a warrant. Open this door!" Ryan shouted. After waiting a beat they heard a rustle inside. Not knowing what to expect, the officers waited a beat longer to see if any more sounds could be heard.

Nothing.

"Last warning. We're coming in!" Ryan turned to the SWAT member behind him as he stepped back. They all braced themselves for the coming kick to the door. The SWAT member counted down using his fingers and unleashed a vicious kick when he reached zero.

Ryan looked at Kate as she gave him a firm nod. He went inside and was followed by the other members, one by one. They did it slowly and deliberately. Just as the last SWAT member entered the building, Kate noticed a man emerging from the condo beside Larson's wearing a cap and a hoodie, trying to hide his face from them.

"Sir, you need to stay in your apartment. Sir!" Kate yelled towards the man as he broke into a sprint as he neared the fire exit when she heard Ryan yell from inside.

"There's a escape hatch in here-a hole in the wall between this condo and the one next door."

Hearing that, Kate and Esposito sprang into action. Giving chase, Larson ran even faster down the stairs. As they entered the stairwell, Kate's grip on her gun relaxed as she tried to determine which direction Larson had fled. Having caught sight of a flash of clothing nearing the bottom of the stairs, Kate's grip tightened a little as she continued to give chase with Esposito not far behind.

"Larson! Freeze! NYPD!" Kate once more bellowed out as she saw Larson duck through the doorway at the bottom of the stairwell.

By the time they have reached the main floor, both Kate and Esposito were panting from the chase but the adrenaline still surged high. Running out the door they had seen Larson exit from not moments before, they saw him approaching the mini playground next to the building.  
>They ran out of the main doors as they saw Larson approach the mini playground.<p>

"I said freeze!" She shouted as she pointed the gun at the figure a few meters away from her. The children stopped what they were doing and turned their attention to the scene playing out in front of them. Caleb stopped, turned around and gave her a smug smile.

"You wouldn't shoot me in front of all these kids, would you, Detective Beckett?"

At the mention of the kids, Kate's gun dipped slightly as she considered the chances of hitting a child with an errant shot. Her hold on the gun faltered slightly as she remembered the kids. That was all it took. In that split second, Larson had managed to turn and run across the street, right into the open door of the warehouse. Pulling her radio from her belt, Kate quickly made contact with the snipers. He turned around and ran across the street... and towards the warehouse. She took the radio attached to her belt and notified the snipers.

"Alpha to Charlie and Delta, do you see the target?"

Not waiting for a response, Kate ran straight towards the warehouse, assuming Esposito had her back.

"Charlie to Alpha. I see him, boss."

"Delta to Alpha. Negative."

"Charlie, keep him in your sights. I repeat, keep him in your sights. Don't lose him. I'll try to engage him at a closer range."

Turning off the radio, Kate carefully entered the warehouse through the same door as Larson. As she cleared the entrance, she thanked whatever god that was watching over her that there were no people inside.

Standing behind a stack of boxes that she had encountered nearly as soon as she had entered the warehouse, Kate quickly weighed her options and decided to wait for Esposito, as she heard Larson scrambling around within the warehouse like a trapped mouse. After what seemed like forever, but was actually no more than a minute or two, Esposito swiftly appeared at her side.

"Hey, I've secured the perimeter. I've got SWAT blocking every exit. This is the only point of entry and exit." He said, motioning to the door he just came in.

"Good. Let's split up. You go right." Esposito grinned at her as he checked that his gun for jams and turned the safety off. "And, break."

As soon as Esposito disappeared around the corner, Kate started clearing her side of the warehouse. Mumbling a silent prayer to herself, she held the gun down, tightened her muscles, and started her search. She had searched about 2 rows of stacked boxes when she heard the sound of a struggle.

"Mierda!" She heard Esposito curse, quickly followed by what sounds like the butt of a gun hitting a person's head.

Hoping beyond hope that it wasn't Esposito who had been pistol whipped, but thankful that, if it was, he had not been shot, Kate carefully hurried in the direction the sounds had come from.

"Deteeeeective. I know you're here..." Larson drawled out loud as he checked the gun's magazine.

She followed Larson's voice and it wasn't long before she was standing close to him. Only a tall stack of boxes was separating the prey, from the predator.

"You don't want your buddy here to die, do you?" He laughed maniacally.

She closed her eyes and evened out her breathing. She was ready. She poised her gun, took a deep breath, and rounded the corner. And then…a shot. A body falling. A scream. But the world still spun.

_So this is what dying feels like._She thought wryly to herself. So intent was she on locking up every happy memory she had that she failed to notice that Ryan, together with the SWAT team, rushed in after they heard the gunshot. So intent was she that she missed how Ryan shot the gun from Larson's hand. So intent was she that she didn't even feel Esposito's hand pressing down on her wound and screaming at her to stay conscious. So intent was she that she didn't remember how she was carried out of the warehouse on a stretcher. So intent was she... that she didn't know how the paramedics tried to resuscitate her when they noticed the gradual weakening of the beating of her heart.

But she was dead, so she didn't know how their faces fell when the doctor pronounced her 'Dead On Arrival'. She didn't know how many people grieved and how many cried.

But there was one thing she knew amidst everything. She knew that she has loved, and she may have not loved enough, but she has fought for all those she have loved.

_They say it is better to have loved than not have loved at all. But isn't it better to have loved and fought for those you loved than to have not loved at all?_

* * *

><p>AN: Please don't kill me. Kill my beta-ish instead. If you can find her, that is (I think she is hiding in fear of you guys). In lieu of finding her, please direct all comments-good, bad or in between to...well, I guess to me. Push the review button if you have an opinion you would like to share.


	9. Coming to a Head

A/N: For those of you who liked/loved the last chapter, please be sure to thank my beta-ish as she actually wrote that chapter and I played the beta-ish for her.

Once again, this chapter is a little light on fluff, and thanks go out to Slider23 for the inspiration for this chapter. I wanted to get this out relatively quickly after the last chapter just cause I didn't want to be too mean to you guys, so hopefully you like it. Also, I am trying something new again with this chapter so tell me what you guys think, please.

Disclaimer: If I got something wrong on the more technical aspects of this chapter, I have only myself and google to blame (although, I do prefer to blame google). Also, I still own none of these characters expect Chloe.

* * *

><p>Arriving at the address given by dispatch, Kate couldn't help but shudder at the intense daydream she had just experienced—silently hoping that it wasn't a premonition of things to come. Quickly, she got out of her car, grabbed her bullet resistant vest from the trunk and met up with the boys as they got out of their car. After the boys grabbed their bullet resistant vests from their trunk, the three of them quickly strategized while donning their vests. Looking at a blueprint of the building (specifically the apartment in question)—which was laid out on the hood of Kate's car, they quickly came up with a plan of attack.<p>

Fanning out towards the apartment building, Kate entered through the front while Ryan and Esposito entered through the rear entrance leaving officers at both entrances. Quickly clearing the lobby, Kate headed up the front flight of stairs, aiming for the third floor. On the third floor, Kate met back up with Ryan and Esposito as they headed for apartment 34C. After flanking the door, Kate reached out and banged on the door.

"Caleb Larson. NYPD. We have a warrant." After a moments wait, Kate pounded on the door again. "Open the door, Mister Larson. It's NYPD. Open the door. We have a warrant."

Receiving no response, Kate signaled to the boys that she was going to try the door. As she reached up to grab the knob, a shot rang out and a hole appeared in the door directly above where her hand was.

"Ryan, call for backup."

Ryan immediately responded by backing slightly away from the door and making the call before resuming his position behind Esposito.

Foregoing the long wait, Esposito rammed the door in and backed up to prevent any attacks from anyone who may have been lying in wait. Clearing the entrance, Esposito entered the door and traced the nonexistent diagonal line-from left to right. He turned to check the area to the left of the door and then quickly dodged into the bathroom to the right of the door, out of the line of fire. With Ryan and Esposito providing cover fire, Kate quickly ran in and dodged into the kitchen on the left side of the door.

Noticing a second entrance from the kitchen to the living room, Kate quickly made her way through the kitchen and then cleared the adjacent living room while the boys kept the shooter at bay. Running out of the kitchen and dodging behind the couch, Kate was able to see the shooter holed up in the bedroom adjacent to both the bathroom and the living room. Seeing Kate's movement, the shooter turned his attention to her and shot at her. While his attention was diverted, Ryan and Esposito both moved further into the apartment and towards the bedroom. Seeing the movement out of the corner of his eye, the shooter once again turned his attention on the boys causing them to fall back and take cover in the kitchen. Seeing that the shooter's attention was diverted, Kate crept out of her hiding place behind the couch and started creeping towards him using the other chairs and cabinets in the room as cover. Once she was in a good position, Kate quickly fired off three shots in quick succession-two at center mass and one to the head of the shooter.

Seeing the man fall to the ground, Kate cautiously moved towards him to ensure that he was truly incapacitated. Drawing near, Kate walked towards the gun that had fallen from the man's grasp and kicked it towards the back wall of the room. Having done that, Kate leaned in to check for the man's pulse. As she leaned forward, the man suddenly lunged towards her grabbing her ankle and yanking it causing her to fall backwards into a chest of drawers, hitting her head on the way down and losing her gun in the process. Quickly recovering, Kate was back on her feet. Jumping towards the man, Kate was able to get a hold of him and zip tied his hands behind his back, but not before he was able to land a couple of blows to her face and stomach.

Hearing a noise, Kate quickly looked up expecting to see Ryan or Esposito. Instead, she found herself staring down the barrel of the gun she had earlier kicked away as it was wielded by teenage boy. Before she could do more than register what she was seeing, the boy had pulled the trigger, shooting Kate in the chest and knocking the breath out of her.

Upon seeing Kate entering the room, Ryan moved to clear the rest of the apartment while Esposito moved to back Kate up. Right as Esposito entered the room, he saw the boy aiming the gun at Kate pull the trigger and saw Kate react to the bullet hitting her. Not stopping to think, Esposito shot the boy at point blank range.

Walking into the room, Esposito walked past Kate and angled for the boy. As the gun once again made its way into the back corner of the room, Esposito leaned in and checked the boy's vitals. Finding no pulse and noting the clean head shot, Esposito turned around and walked back towards Kate.

"Are you okay?"

"I think so. Just some bruises. I don't think anything is broken."

"Geez, Beckett. You look like hell. What, did you let that scum bag use your face as a punching bag before you got him subdued?" Ryan morosely joked to Kate as he walked into the bedroom. "Seriously though, we should have you checked out at the hospital."

"As I just told your partner here, I am fine. Just some bruising. Nothing life threatening."

"Beckett, you were shot and took several blows to the head, we are going to the hospital, if, for nothing else, then to get some x-rays done so you can prove us wrong."

Ignoring the worried remarks from her partners, she walked towards the casualty of the gunfire. She looked at the gunshot on his head and turned towards Esposito. She watched as Esposito's attention turned towards the boy and a look of pain and regret crossed his eyes.

_I'm sorry._

She bent down and used her fingers to close the young shooter's eyes. _Rest in Peace._

-o-O-o-

Walking into the interrogation room, Kate walked towards the table and sat down. Pulling out the file for Caleb Larson, Kate quickly skimmed through what she already knew about the case. While she was having some trouble concentrating, she was intent on nailing the bastard for murdering Rachel Simonson-a wife and the mother of three young kids.

"Mister Larson..."

"Please, call me Caleb." He told her while giving her a quick once over before finally fixing his gaze on her breasts.

"Mister Larson. Up here." Kate said while snapping her fingers in front of his face to get his attention. "Mister Larson. We have you on illegal possession of firearms, assault on an officer and wearing body armor while committing a violent felony. Now we can do two things." She raised an eyebrow at him. "Actually, you can do two things. One, confess to all of them and get less jail time; or two, you could deny and it will be my pleasure to lock you up and find a way for you to rot in prison." Larson tilted his head and ignored her.

Over the course of the next hour, Kate skillfully worked her way towards her way towards the confession she wanted all the while ignoring her ever increasing headache and ache in her ankle.

Finally, Kate dropped her final card, the piece of evidence that he didn't think they had—the piece of evidence that wiped the snide look right off his face. Seeing what the police had, Caleb Larson finally broke down and confessed to the murder saying that Rachel had deserved what she got for being such a slutty tease. If she had not come on to him like she had, he never would have killed her.

As soon as an officer had escorted him from the room, Kate found herself falling backwards into the chair she had previously occupied. Clutching her head, she let out a low moan.

Seeing this, Ryan and Esposito rushed in from the observation room.

"Okay, no ifs, ands, or buts, you are going to the emergency room right now." Ryan informed Kate.

Esposito quickly helped Kate up out of the chair into a standing position. As Kate started walking, she let out a hiss of pain as she placed some of her weight on her left ankle. Settling her back in the chair, Esposito did a quick visual inspection of her ankle.

"Beckett, how were you walking on this all this time? Why wouldn't you let us take you to the hospital right away?"

"I wanted to see that guy locked up for what he had done. My injuries could wait. This was more important."

Once again Esposito helped Kate to her feet, this time acting like a crutch on her left side as he led her to the elevator.

-o-O-o-

Arriving in the emergency room, Kate and the boys were surprised by the amount of people that populated the area. Their ears were inundated with the sounds of the ER: moans and groans from people who have less than extensive injuries, sniffling, sneezing, and crying from the little children as they held onto their parents like lifelines, and the squeaks of the shoes of the medical personnel as they rushed by, disappearing with patients whose numbers had been called and artfully dodging those who believed that their symptoms were more pressing.

Walking through the chaos, Esposito approached the intake nurse who, without looking up, handed him the requisite paperwork and told him to take a seat, fill out the paperwork, and wait to be called. Esposito willingly grabbed the paperwork, but did not immediately sit down.

"Ma'am, I'm Detective Javier Esposito and I am just trying to get my partner in to be checked out. She took a blow to the head earlier while doing her job but refused to come in and now, she is suffering from dizziness and headaches. There is also the possibility that she has broken an ankle and some ribs. Is there any way to get her in faster? I promise I will fill out the necessary paperwork while she is being attended to, if that is at all possible."

From that point on, it was a whirl of motion for Kate as an orderly forced her to sit on the wheelchair he would be pushing. She was then wheeled into one of the curtained off areas in the back where she was transferred to a bed and left to wait for a doctor. Not five minutes later, a doctor came in, checked her over and sent her to radiology for a CT scan and a full body X-ray. By time all the scans were done, Kate was worn out and just wanted to go home.

"Detective Beckett, looking at your CT scans and X-rays, it would appear that you have a mild concussion but no broken bones... just a few bruised ribs and a severely sprained ankle. We can wrap the ribs and ankle and send you home right now as long as you have someone that you can stay with tonight to check on you."

With that final note from the doctor, Kate ran for the exit as quickly as she could while on crutches, trying to get out of there as soon as possible.

She could see the door that was well beyond her reach when Ryan and Esposito showed up in her immediate sight and intercepted her, forcing her to slow down.

"Beckett, where do you think you are going?" Esposito asked in a challenging tone.

"Home." She replied simply as she adjusted the crutches.

Ryan shook his head and gave her a disappointed smile. "I don't think so. Not unless someone else is staying with you tonight. I know you have a concussion. No way are you going to be able to stay home by yourself tonight."

Her eyebrows scrunched up and gave them a defeated sigh. "Fine. Take me to Lanie's. Now, can we get out of here, please."

"Our pleasure." Esposito moved to stand by her to provide assistance... which she promptly waved away. Ryan shook his head in slight disbelief and added, "By the way, Rick called while you were in radiology. Just thought you would want to know."

"Crap." Kate whispered under her breath. "What time is it?"

Ryan looked at his watch and turned to her. "Eight."

She sighed tiredly and turned to them while holding out her hand, palm up. "Give me my phone, I need to call him."

Turning away from the boys, she quickly dialed Rick's number and explained her situation to him. Ryan and Esposito watched on as Kate tried to explain her way out of being in trouble-kind of like how a kid would explain to her parents how she got cuts and bruises. They smiled. _She never had anyone who questioned her or really worried about her because no one else had the guts. This Rick guy must be really special._They shared a knowing smile and just watched as she made faces like a petulant child might when she thought her parents weren't looking. After five minutes on the phone, Kate ended the call and rested her forehead on the top of the phone while shaking her head in disbelief.

Finally, she turned to them and said. "Okay, Ryan, I need you to take me to Rick's loft first and then you can drop me off at Lanie's." And with that, she ambled her way out while the two followed her.

-o-O-o-

Pulling up to the building, Ryan quickly got out to help Kate out of the car. Before he got around to her side of the car, Kate had managed to pull herself out and was in the process of getting her crutches under her arms.

"Beckett, you have got to let us help you." Ryan said while shaking his head in disapproval.

"No need, guys. I got it." She gave them a smile. They could do nothing as they watched her amble towards the building, all the while wincing in barely hidden pain.

Staring at the building in awe as they climbed out of the car, they didn't notice that Kate had already made her way to the elevator until she called back at them to get a move on.

"He lives here?" Ryan said in disbelief as they reached her.

"That guy must be really loaded!" Esposito added with a nod.

Getting off the elevator and onto Castle's floor, Kate hobbled over to the door and knocked.

"Stay outside will you? I shouldn't be longer than ten minutes." Kate said to the boys before turning and knocking on the door.

As soon as Kate's hand had fallen back onto her crutch, the sounds of little feet could be heard as they ran towards the door.

Throwing open the door, Chloe ran forward and started to jump towards Kate, only to be stopped in her attempt by the hands that reached out from behind her and snagged her sweater.

"Kate! What happened? Why is your face all purple? And what are those metal things?" Chloe cried out upon seeing her.

Unsure what to say, Kate just stood there. Just then, Rick appeared from behind Chloe and promptly picked her up.

"Honey, Kate was in an accident today. Nothing too serious but she is a little sore right now." Rick jumped in and explained. "Now, how about you go help Alexis finish dinner while I talk to Kate?" Chloe nodded and gave her a small wave as Rick put her down.

While Chloe scampered off to the kitchen, Rick helped Kate disappear into the study.

He helped her settle on the couch and promptly put the crutches away. She gave him an appreciative smile and he turned around to drag a chair in front of her.

"Now, Kate. How about you really tell me what was going on? I know you gave me a basic rundown of your injuries on the phone, but I cannot help but think that you were not telling me something. How exactly did you get these injuries?" He asked worriedly.

"Rick, you know I work a dangerous job and this is an occupational hazard. Why is it so important that you know how I got them? What difference is that going to make?" She asked in irritation. _Why does he care?_

"It matters because I need to know why I am lying to my daughter. I told her that it wasn't serious...but I have the distinct feeling that how you got these injuries is a lot more serious then you are letting on. So, please, just tell me." He begged as he leaned forward, his arms now resting on his knees. _Please, let me in._

"Fine, Rick. You want to know? I will tell you. The ankle and the concussion are from a fight I got into with a suspect I was trying to arrest. The ribs...the bruised ribs are from when I was shot by the suspect's friend. Are you happy now? Does this change anything for you?" Kate yelled.

"Kate. Are you..." Rick started when his voice immediately cracked. _You could've died._

"No Rick! Don't! This mess today has had me thinking. I cannot do this anymore. I cannot continue to hang out with your family. It is just too much of a risk. My job makes it too much of a risk. What if I had not been wearing my vest today? Or if he had aimed just a little higher? You guys would have to deal with the consequences of that. I cannot do that to you. It would be better for me to walk away now. It may hurt but it would not hurt as much as if I were to get really enmeshed in your family and then get killed in the line of duty." She reached for her crutches and started getting up. _Don't act like you care._

Standing up and turning to walk out the door, Rick suddenly grabbed Kate's arm from behind and she was gently spun back around to face him. She looked at him defiantly, blinking back the tears that are threatening to be let out. He looked steadfast... stubborn... knowing.

"No, Kate. You cannot unilaterally make that decision. Whether you like it or not, you are already a big part of this family. Do you think losing you now would be any better than if you were to have been shot and died? Either way we are losing you from our lives. Do you think I am going to let you just walk away? No! You cannot do this to my daughters! They do not deserve this. You cannot just enter people's lives and tell them who to care for, who to love. Who are you to tell them who they should love? You are better than this! You are stronger than this! Can't you see? They're not the only ones that need you? Have you thought that maybe... just maybe, I need you too?" She watched as he closed his eyes painfully and swallowed hard. She watched as he slowly opened his eyes and trained them on her... and as his expression changed from stubbornness to defeat.

"I don't let people into my daughters' lives very easily for that very reason, but you seemed different. Maybe I was just hoping, but I thought you were different." Rick sighed in defeat. "Maybe I was wrong, but I hope not. I think you are just what this family needs and you need us. I am not going to let you just walk away. We know... we know that we need you. I just hope you realize that you need us, too."

While this conversation was going on, neither Kate nor Rick noticed as the door opened and the girls walked in.

Walking forward, with tears streaming down her face, Chloe gently tugged on Kate's shirt.

"Kate? What's going on? Are you leaving? Why?" She bent down to the tear stained face of Chloe and her heart broke. _Maybe..._

Not waiting for an answer, Chloe fiercely hugged Kate's good leg as if to try and force her to stay. _Do I deserve this?_

Seeing this, Alexis could stay quiet no longer.

Kate turned towards the small angry voice directed at her. "You promised. You promised that you would never intentionally hurt us. You said that you didn't want us to hurt because of you. Well, guess what, _detective_. We are hurting. You are hurting us. You are abandoning us. Now I know what a promise really means to you-NOTHING. Nothing at all."

With that, Alexis left the room with tears pouring down her face.

* * *

><p>AN: I have not even begun to write the next chapter for this as I am studying for my last final EVER (as long as I never go to graduate school) and so am going to be a little busy the next 2 days and have no idea when the next chapter will be out (cross your fingers that it is before I go on vacation in a little over a week, although I do hope to have internet access while away, who knows if I will be inspired to write anything).


	10. Trying for Reconciliation

A/N: edit: I guess I should look at my stats a little more closely than I did before writing that author's note. Sorry for that. So, I thank you for reading my story, and hope you enjoy this chapter that hopefully resolves some of the mess that Kate/I made in the last chapter.

Much love and thanks to my beta-ish, agentchuckles, who has put up with my constant nagging of her on twitter to edit this so that I could try and get this piece out by today. This chapter would not be what it is without her help.

Disclaimer: Having realized I forgot disclaimers on the last couple chapters I would like to make up for that by adding one here...I do not, nor have I ever, owned the wonderful characters that Andrew Marlowe has created for our entertainment. Any character you recognize most definitely does not belong to me, I am just dragging her/him along with me on this ride.

* * *

><p>Kate watched in slack jawed fascination and horror at Alexis' uncharacteristic display of emotion as Chloe continued to hold her leg whilst crying her eyes out. It took her a few more minutes before her brain caught up with her as she paced back and forth as best she could on her crutches having detached Chloe from her leg.<p>

"Oh crap! What have I done? What was I thinking? Shit. Shit. Shit."

Before she could say anything more, a hand clamped over her mouth while the other arm wrapped around her waist- forcing her to stop her pacing.

"Detective…_please_watch your language. There are little ears in the room." A little voice tickled Kate's ear.

"Chloe, can you please go check on Alexis. Maybe eat some dinner without us. I need to talk to Kate…alone." Rick said as he led Kate back to the couch with the arm around her waist while still holding his hand firmly over her mouth. Reaching the couch, Rick took Kate's crutches and leaned them against the chair he had been sitting in earlier.

With tears still streaming down her face, Chloe heeded her father's suggestion and walked to the door of the study. Before she completely exited the room, Kate couldn't help but focus on the tear streaked face of the little girl who stood hugging the door before she turned away and gently closed it. _I can't do this to them._

As Kate watched Chloe walk out of the room, she realized that Rick still has his hand clamped over her mouth. Struggling to break free, Rick's hand and arm only clamped tighter around her. Thinking that if she stopped, his grasp would loosen, she melted into his arms and unceremoniously bit his hand-succeeding in freeing her mouth, if not the rest of her body.

With a steely voice, Kate lashed out.

"Rick, let go of me now."

"No."

"What do you mean _no_? I said…let…me…GO." Kate punctuated each word with a strong push and at the end, she forcefully threw an elbow into Rick's stomach that left him breathless... but did nothing to loosen his firm grip around her waist.

As Kate once again struggled against the physical force keeping her in place, she lost the battle with her emotions as tears started rolling down her face. After another minute of struggling, Kate gave in and felt the full force of her emotions take over her as she started to sob.

Before she knew it, Kate realized that the arm restraining her loosened it's grip in order to turn her around and pull her in for a hug.

"Shhh….Let it all out." Rick whispered while rubbing soothing circles on her back.

After five minutes of this, Kate slowly evened out her breathing until she was relegated to sniffling. Sitting still, Kate couldn't help but think about the situation she found herself in. She had yelled at a guy, hurt his daughters- possibly beyond repair, and here he was comforting her. What had she done to deserve this?

When all sniffling had subsided, Rick gently pushed Kate's shoulders- forcing her to sit up straight. Not wanting to see all the emotions that she knew must be playing across Rick's face; Kate ducked her head and allowed a curtain of hair to cover her face.

Placing a finger under her chin, Rick forced Kate to look up at him but her eyes refused to meet his.

"Kate, we need to talk about this. And by that, I mean, I am going to talk and you are going to listen. No interruptions. Got it?"

"What if I don't want to talk about it right now? What if I just want to go home and be left in peace?"

"That is too bad detective…Kate. Not talking about it is only going to make this worse, and we need to talk about it. This is important for all of us, not just me and you, but also for my daughters who are completely besotted by you as well." Rick sighed, exasperated.

Opening her mouth to speak, Kate quickly changed her mind and just nodded instead.

"Good. Kate, I need you to understand some things." Rick said as he released her chin. "While it would hurt me for you to walk out on us, it would hurt my girls more. It is hurting Alexis. I can't just let you walk away and ruin my amazing daughter. You will stay. You will work this out and you will make it up to Alexis and Chloe. Chloe is still resilient, she would bounce back, but Alexis…Alexis has been amazingly strong after dealing with all the shit, life has thrown at her but you leaving? That would be the final straw and I don't want to see my daughter go down like that. Do you understand me?"

With guilt written all over her face, Kate nodded her head once again.

"Okay then." Slightly perplexed at the lack of fight that Kate was putting up, Rick tentatively stood up and started slowly walking towards the door wondering what Kate was thinking. "I am going to go get us some food and I expect you to still be sitting there when I get back."

Opening the door, Rick suddenly turned around and walked back towards the couch. Leaning down, he quickly grabbed the crutches and carried them out with him.

He looked at her and responded to her unasked question."Just to ensure that you don't go too far because this conversation is not over. Not by a long shot."

Watching the door close behind him, Kate leaned back heavily into the couch and let out a loud sigh as she  
>closed her eyes and fell deep into thought.<p>

-o-O-o-

Hearing the door open abruptly, her eyes popped out as she sat up straighter and grasped for her gun... before remembering that Ryan had taken her gun and badge when she had gone in for her CT scan. Realizing that she was unarmed, she tensed her arms- ready for an attack.

When she saw who walked in the door, she lowered her guard and regarded him curiously. He came in carrying a tray with two plates of lasagna and two glasses of water. Handing her a plate and a glass, he sat down in front of her and addressed her.

"Eat up. I know this isn't exactly what Alexis had in mind when she made it but it is good and you need to eat."

At the reminder of why she had planned on going to the Castle's that night, she lost her appetite and felt sick to her stomach with guilt. While tempted to put the tray on the couch next to her, Kate reached down instead to take a bite of lasagna knowing that Rick would not leave her alone if she didn't at least attempt to eat something.

She quickly devoured the food offered without realizing how hungry she was. Ignoring the look he was throwing her way. Happy to see that she was eating, Rick turned to his own plate and started eating while surreptitiously studying her.

"That's creepy," Kate told Rick as she set her fork down on the tray.

"What is?" Rick's worried expression changed to one of complete innocence as he met Kate's gaze.

"You watching me eat."

"I wasn't watching you eat. I can't help it if I was bored. What can I say?" Rick said with a half-hearted smirk and a shrug. "My eye was drawn to the only movement in the room, which just happened to be caused by you."

"Mm hmm...'cause that makes it better." Kate replied sarcastically.

She was expecting an equally sarcastic reply but she was surprised when his gaze hardened and he trained his eyes on her.

"I don't want to start this conversation just to have you freak out on me and yell again but Kate, I need to know that you are okay. I need to know that we—you, me, my daughters—that _we_are okay."

The way that Rick was talking had Kate's ire rising again but she suddenly felt too tired to act on that anger as the day and her injuries finally caught up with her.

As she sat staring bleary-eyed at Rick, she saw him stand up and walk over to her. Standing over her, he leaned forward and eased her into her standing.

"Rick, what are you doing?"

"Taking you to bed."

"What?" Kate, suddenly much more awake, pulled back her arm back... and punched him.

"No! Not like that." Rick said as he stopped the fist that came flying towards him. "You are practically falling asleep in front of me so I am going to tuck you into my bed, by yourself, and you are going to sleep. I will sleep in the guest room."

"No. I can't take your bed from you. Just let me go home. I'll be fine." She protested.

"Kate. You were shot today and you have a concussion, I am not letting you go home to an empty apartment. No way. That is not going to happen." He raised an eyebrow, as if daring her to challenge him.

"I am not going home to an empty house. Ryan is going to…Oh God, Ryan and Esposito. I forgot all about them. What time is it now? I told them that I would take ten minutes." Kate turned and took a few steps before her ankle gave out on her. Rick swiftly caught Kate as she tipped sideways and let out a yell of pain.

"Kate. It's okay. I sent the boys home when I went out to get dinner. Besides, how far do you think you'll get on that ankle without your crutches?"

"You sent the boys home without talking to me? You just _assumed_I was going to stay here?"

Noticing the anger that was starting to creep back into her voice, Rick cut her off. "Kate, when I left to get dinner we were still having a discussion that I was planning to finish tonight. I told them that after our discussion was over I would take you over to Lanie's- whose apartment you were originally planning on staying at... or so I was told, and they didn't need to stick around because I didn't know how long the discussion was going to take. But right now, you are falling asleep on me and I am not going to continue a heavy discussion with someone who can barely keep her eyes open. We can continue this in the morning, but for now you need to sleep."

Giving into his argument as she felt her eyelids drooping once again, Kate let Rick lead her into his bedroom, located directly off of the study. as she let her mind wander. Losing attention, see heard Rick wandering around and opening and closing drawers-looking for something. Before she knew it, Rick was back at her side handing her a pile of clothes, a toothbrush and some Tylenol, as he helped her into the bathroom.

"Take your time. I'll be outside." He told her before he closed the door.

After getting ready, Kate opened the door to find Rick standing there, ready to help her over to the bed. Sitting down on the bed, Kate was shocked when her left leg was lifted and Rick's hands moved to her ankle to loosen the wrap. As he stood up, Kate felt herself being pushed back into the bed and tucked in. Within a couple of minutes, she was fast asleep.

-o-O-o-

When Kate woke up early the next morning, it was to the feeling of a body on the bed next to her, leaning over her. Opening her eyes, Kate was startled to see just how close the other person's face was. Blue eyes stared into green as both stayed perfectly still, trying to decide what to do.

After a couple minutes of the staring contest, the blue eyes broke contact as the little girl sat up and gave Kate a small smile.

"Good morning, sleepyhead."

"Sleepyhead? Me? Are you sure it is me who is the sleepyhead?" Kate asked as she grabbed Chloe to tickle her.

Chloe let out a laugh or two but it was not her normal high pitched shrieks which worried Kate, causing her to remember the events of the night before and abruptly stopped tickling the little girl.

"Yes, I am sure. I am the one up and dressed while you are still in bed in your pajamas. That clearly makes you: the sleepyhead." Chloe said in a matter-of-fact voice.

"Breakfast is ready if you want to join us. Daddy said I wasn't supposed to wake you up to tell you but if you were awake it was okay. So if you want to..." Chloe started to roll off the bed.

Reaching out an arm, Kate snagged Chloe's wrist before she got too far and stopped her in her tracks- hoping she would turn back around and look at her.

"Chloe, are you okay? Do you want to talk about it?"

"I'm fine. Please, let's just go eat." Chloe turned to her, a sad smile on her face.

Kate couldn't help but feel a tug at her heart as she realized what the little girl was doing—trying to distance herself from the pain she thought was coming.

Letting go of Chloe's wrist, Kate's heart broke to see the small girl experiencing such emotional turmoil at such a young age.

_Do I hate or love her? She told Dad that she doesn't want us but maybe..._

Seeing the question lying just beneath the surface of those blue eyes nearly brought Kate to tears as she wished she could magically remove the doubt Chloe was feeling.

Whilst seated deep in thought, it took Kate a minute to realize that Rick was standing in the doorway.

"How long have you been there?" Kate choked out.

"Long enough." Rick simply stated. "Kate, I know this is hurting you just as much as it is hurting the girls and me. I can see it in how you just reacted to Chloe. If it is hurting you so much, why are you doing this? Why are you trying to break this great thing we have going?"

"Long enough." Rick simply stated. "Look Kate, I may not have known you for long but I can see that this is affecting you. We won't judge you. You know that. You know us. So why are you doing this to yourself?"

Opening her mouth to answer, Rick stopped her with a finger over her lips. "I don't want you to answer right now. I want you to think about it."

Walking over towards the bed, Rick got down to his knees and pulled Kate's leg towards him so he could rewrap her ankle.

"I want you to come and eat breakfast with us and think about it. We can talk after the girls head off to school. Does that sound good?"

After thinking about it for a second, Kate then proceeded to nod her head in agreement, not trusting her ability to speak at the moment. Grabbing her crutches that he had left by the door, Rick quickly handed them to Kate and walked out the door giving her time to get her head on straight.

Downing a couple of Tylenol to combat the headache that was developing and the soreness in her chest, Kate grabbed her crutches and hobbled out to get breakfast.

-o-O-o-

Breakfast was an awkward affair as Alexis stalwartly gave Kate the silent treatment and Rick and Chloe tried to keep conversation flowing, even if it meant they were only talking to each other. As it all became too much, Kate silently set down her fork and pushed her chair back and grabbed her crutches, preparing to leave.

Stopping his conversation with Chloe, Rick looked up and watched Kate as she stood up. "Kate? Where are you going?"

"I am going to go get my stuff and then head home before heading to work."

"Why?" Chloe's voice popped in. "You don't have work today."

"What? Yes, I do."

"No, you are on…medical leave?" Chloe then shifted her attention and looked up at Rick. _Right, daddy?_After receiving a nod from Rick, Chloe continued, "That's what Ryan and Sito told him."

-o-O-o-

As Kate sat at the kitchen table, she watched Rick pack lunches for the girls and thought about what she needed to do to fix what she had broken, or, at the very least, severely damaged.

While everything was silent, Rick took the time to make their lunches. The next minute was filled with the sound of thundering feet as both girls flew down the stairs, backpacks in hand, and headed for their dad. Grabbing their lunch sacks, each girl gave Rick a hug and a kiss on the cheek before heading for the door and the town car that waited to take them to school. Watching them leave, Kate couldn't help but wish that she could be a part of something so pure. As if reading her mind, Chloe turned around and ran back into the loft. Running up to Kate, she gave her a quick hug and whispered:

"Thank you for staying."

Chloe was off again, racing to catch up with Alexis who was holding the elevator door open and waiting impatiently.

_How could I have tried to turn my back on this?_

Once the kitchen was clean, Rick came over to Kate and proceeded to lead her into the living room. Settling her onto one end of the couch, Rick then sat himself on the other end and stared at Kate for a couple minutes.

"Do you remember the questions I asked you to think about before breakfast?" He said and waited for a nod before continuing. "I would really like to hear your answers to those."

"I am...scared. I think that that is it. Plain and simple. I am not sure how much you heard through the door the other night. And don't you deny that you were standing with your ear pressed to that door while Alexis and I talked." Kate said putting an end to Rick's shaking of his head and opening of his mouth to interrupt. "I am sure you heard about my mother being murdered when I was younger, and I think that is where the fear came from. We might not have been the best example of a happy family when my mother died, but we were happy and then everything changed. I think I started to feel that again with you guys, and I love that feeling, which made me stick around. I felt happy and alive again. Then, yesterday when I was shot, I realized how dangerous my job was. I started seeing myself in my mom's place and Alexis and Chloe in mine. I didn't want them to have to go through what I went through and so I decided to remove myself from the picture before that happened. I thought grieving because I walked away would not hurt as much as grieving because I was taken from them."

"Kate, that is where you're wrong. The pain you feel from having someone taken away from you is nothing... nothing compared to having someone willingly walking away. Walking away from someone means they're not worth fighting for... that they're unimportant...that you are better off without them. Alexis knows that. She knows that better than anyone. Do you know why? Because two people have already walked away from her. But that doesn't hurt her as much as the knowledge that it was completely voluntary. That they _chose_to leave her behind."

Rick then sat back and watched as Kate took in what he had told her. Once she appeared to have worked through what he had said, he continued.

"Now Kate, yes, you have a dangerous job which puts you in more danger than most, but not every danger in the world comes from criminals. Were you not a cop, you could still be taken from us in some freak accident or another. Don't think that we are going to accept your resignation from our life because you think your job is too dangerous. We will fight for you to stay, and trust me, we Castles don't back down from a fight when we truly believe in the cause we are fighting for. "

-o-O-o-

After their conversation, Rick and Kate spent the rest of the day on the couch relaxing and watching movies.

As soon as the girls got home, Kate got up from the couch and walked over to Alexis.

"Alexis, can we please talk?"

Receiving a hesitant nod from Alexis, Kate led them both to the study.

"If I find that either of you have pressed your ear to this door to listen in, you will not be happy campers." Kate made sure to mention to Rick and Chloe before closing the door.

While Kate was giving her warning, Alexis had sat down in the chair behind the desk, keeping the same power dynamics that had been in play for their conversation the other night.

Seeing this, Kate sat down in the chair across from her with a heavy heart and a small sigh.

"I am not going to beat around the bush here. I am just going to jump right in and hopefully you will hear me out. I am sorry, Alexis. I am so sorry. After talking it over with your dad, I know why I tried to run, but that doesn't make it any better. It doesn't make it right, and I ended up hurting all of you and I can never apologize enough for that. I only hope that you will let me stick around and try to make it up to you. Try to prove to you that I mean what I say. I hope you can trust me when I say that I am never going to leave you guys again unless you ask me to go, but I know where trusting me got you last time and I will understand if you don't think you can, at least not yet."

Alexis sighed heavily and looked at regarded sadly. "I can't trust you on that yet, Kate, but...I want try to learn to trust you."

"That is all I ask. Thank you." Kate gave her a happy smile and joked.

"However, we need to get your father in line."

Alexis sighed exaggeratedly and said. "I've been trying to do that for years. I will be your padawan, master." She mock bowed at her and looked at Kate in the eye. They stared at each other for a couple of seconds before they burst out laughing.

* * *

><p>AN: After the last chapter, I posted a companion piece to this story from Rick's point of view. Based on the response I have recieved for it, I am willing to add more chapters to it, but I would like to know what you guys want to see. So, if there is anything (chapter or just subject) from this story that you would like to read about from Rick's POV, please tell me (PM or leave a review) so that I can see about writing it.


	11. Preparations

At the sound of the alarm, Kate languidly stretched in a patch of watery sunshine before rolling over and turning the source of the offending noise off. Pulling the comforter over her head and reveling in the feeling of the soft sheets, Kate curled into a ball and attempted to drift back to sleep. Before she could do much more than close her eyes, the smell of freshly brewed coffee and bacon inundated her senses, drawing her back out from under the covers-nose first. Cracking one eye open, she saw a cup of coffee floating just out of reach. Sitting up slightly, Kate freed her arm and reached for the cup. Before she could quite get a hold of it, the cup moved slightly farther away forcing her to sit completely upright.

"Good morning, Sleepyhead. How'd you sleep?"

"I slept fine, Castle. Now, please, hand over that cup of coffee."

"You know, you only call me Castle when you are irritated with me."

Unwittingly, he started waving the coffee cup around just out of Kate's reach as he spoke. Eyes glued to the cup, Kate couldn't help but growl just a little.

Snapping back to reality at the sound of Kate's low growl and realizing what he was doing, Rick decided to tempt fate just a little longer and started purposefully waving the cup around, just out of the reach of Kate's extended arm, while smiling playfully. Retracting her arm, Kate leaned back into the pillows and sent a withering glare in Rick's direction.

"Well, _Castle_, maybe if you just gave me the _coffee_ I could get back to calling youRick_._ So what do you say…coffee?..._Rick_?"

At the sound of the dangerous but teasing lilt in Kate's voice, Rick looked back at Kate and couldn't help but laugh a little as he saw her sitting up on her knees in a manner reminiscent of a cat getting ready to pounce on its unsuspecting prey-this instance, a cup of coffee. Remembering what had happened the last time he had seen her like that, Rick quickly handed her the cup with a hurried "Oh! Sorry about that. Here you go," although the smug grin on his face seemed to suggest otherwise.

Savouring the taste of the coffee while watching Rick talk animatedly, Kate couldn't help but think of how they had gotten to that point-the point of her staying in Castle's guest room...of him bringing her breakfast in bed...but most importantly, of it feeling normal.

_After her conversation with Alexis, she and Kate had walked out into the living room only to discover that Rick and Chloe had been busy while they had been talking. They couldn't take more than two steps outside the door without running into blankets that seemed to have eaten the living room. The blanket fort was so expansive that it had taken over not only the living room but also the foyer and kitchen. _

_"How long were we in there?" Kate couldn't help but murmur in wonder. _

_Suddenly, Chloe and Rick popped up in front of the two women._

_"C'mon…Alexis you have to check this out." Reaching her hand out, Chloe pulled Alexis down onto her hands and knees and led her into the fort._

_"What do you say?" Rick asked, holding out his hand for Kate._

_"Castle…how am I supposed to crawl through there with a twisted ankle and bruised ribs? _And_ besides that, how am I supposed to get out of here to go home?" _

_"Firstly, you are not leaving this loft tonight and probably not tomorrow, either."_

_"Wha-"_

_"No, Kate. You were injured yesterday and you are not staying alone tonight, and _that_ is final."_

_Thinking of all the promises she had made that day, Kate resigned herself to fact that she was going to have to stay at the loft and work on the issues she had created. "Okay. I will stay."_

_"Thank you. Now, as to the crawling thing…I didn't really think that out before building the fort…so give me just a second." And with that, Rick was back on his hands and knees and disappearing back into the fort._

_A couple minutes later, Rick reappeared with a blanket in hand._

_"Kate…after giving this some thought, I have come up with a solution, but you are going to hate it. Are you sure you don't want to try crawling?"_

_"Rick, I would rather not. So tell me, what is this solution I am going to hate?"_

_"Well, I was thinking that you could lay down on this blanket and I could pull you to the 'movie room'?"_

_"What? That is your great plan."_

_"Well, I never said it was great." Rick quietly interjected._

_Acting as if Rick hadn't said anything, Kate continued on. "No way am I going to be dragged through the fort…I will take my chances and crawl. How far are we going anyways."_

_Relieved that Kate didn't try and take her crutches to the fort to knock down a path, Rick quickly answered. "Not far…just to the couch…although it is a little farther than normal."_

_"Fine." Kate groused and braced herself from the pain that she would undoubtedly be feeling from her ribs from crawling around on her hands and knees. _

_Determined not to let the pain get to her, she steadfastly crawled all the way to the 'movie room'. Upon reaching the room, the pain she felt was momentarily put out of mind by the set-up. The coffee table had been moved out of the way and four pallets had been set up for them to lie on. Crawling over towards the pallets, Kate settled on the pallet closest to her. With a loud sigh, Kate laid__down only to feel a shoot of pain go through her from overdoing it with the crawling._

_"Tylenol?" Kate smiled thankfully at Rick who was sitting next to her holding out two capsules and a glass of water. "I figured you wouldn't go for my idea so while I was in here I stopped by the kitchen and got some Tylenol for you knowing how much pain you would be in when you got here."_

_Only after downing the Tylenol, some deep breaths and motionlessness was Kate able to really look and see what they had set up. In addition to the pallets were bowls of candy and popcorn everywhere and a movie set up on the television. She couldn't believe that they still wanted to have a full-on movie night after everything. By the time she was done looking around; Chloe had taken up the pallet next to her with Castle sitting on the pallet in between Alexis and Chloe._

_About halfway through the movie, Kate was shocked when she felt something hitting her leg. Looking down, she saw that Chloe had lain down, using her leg as a pillow, and was trying valiantly to stay awake. Without thinking, Kate reached a hand down and started running it through Chloe's hair murmuring softly. "It's okay, baby girl. You can go to sleep."_

_-o-O-o-_

_Waking up the next morning, Kate was surprised to find she was lying on the couch with Chloe snuggled up next to her and Rick sitting in front of her with a travel mug of coffee._

_"Good Morning. Sleep well?"_

_"Not bad. I am assuming you had something to do with this?" Kate said waving her arms over her and Chloe. _

_"A little, yeah. I didn't think it would be doing you any favours to sleep on the floor so I convinced you to move to the couch before you completely conked out. After that I was about to take Chloe upstairs to her bed but she wouldn't let go of you so I let her sleep with you. I hope you don't mind."_

_Looking down at the little girl sleeping next to her, Kate couldn't think of anything she minded less and said as much as she reached out for the mug of coffee._

_Unsure how exactly Rick had done it, Kate found herself spending her days and nights at the loft for the next week following 'the incident', as Rick had taken to calling it. After how she had treated them, she couldn't quite figure out why he would want her there but she had to admit that it was definitely what they needed. Time to just hang out and have fun: mend fences and show that they were still the same people despite Kate's fears. In that short amount of time, Kate couldn't believe how at home she felt. It had been a long time since she had really felt at home anywhere, even at her own apartment._

Suddenly realizing that Rick was no longer talking, Kate snapped out of her reverie only to find that he was sitting on the edge of the bed once again holding the cup of coffee while regarding her quizzically.

"When... How... Why are you holding my coffee?" Kate asked, confused.

Rick looked at her thoughtfully and gave her a grin. "I noticed that you weren't paying attention to me a while ago so I decided to see if you really are out of it. Imagine my surprise when the formidable-don't talk to me before I have had my morning coffee-Kate Beckett willingly handed over her cup of coffee." He added, teasingly.

Beckett shook her head and covered her face with her hand tiredly. "I'm just tired, Rick. My coffee, _**now**_... _please._"

He grinned and handed it to her. "Aren't you wondering for how long you were out of it?"

She glared at him and sighed reluctantly. "Fine." She dragged out. "How long?"

Rick made a 'so so action' with his hands and stood up, holding a hand out to her. "5 minutes. Give or take."

She stood up, appalled. "5 minutes!"

He laughed, amused. "Oh, Kate...Was it as good for you as it was for me?"

Grabbing the coffee, she took a sip before grinning knowingly over the rim of the cup. "You have no idea." She laughed out heartily as he stuttered, unable to come up with anything in his surprise, and lightly smacked his shoulder. "Now get out. I'm going to freshen up a bit."

"Awww... but Kate. I would love to save the environment with you." He said over his shoulder as she pushed him out the door from behind.

She just rolled her eyes in reply as she stood by her door. "Goodbye, Rick."

"Until later, Kate." Rick said with a smile as he came back to join her by the door before adding teasingly, "I think I am going to go get set up. Hope you don't mind getting a little...messy."

Finally succeeding in pushing him out of the room; she slammed the door shut, took a sip of coffee and ate a piece of bacon off the plate on the bedside table before heading into the en suite. As she prepared to take a shower, thoughts of the previous evening's events stopped her in her tracks.

_Kate had finally gotten off her crutches earlier that week and was enjoying the freedom that it gave her. While she still was not back up to wearing heels, the ability to walk on her own two feet was liberating. Walking up to the door of the Castle's loft, she was excited to see them again. She had been so busy with work, even if it was just desk duty, that she hadn't seen them since the Tuesday of the week previous when they had gone shopping for Chloe's party—she hadn't even had the opportunity to meet _Grams_ yet. While they had managed to text and talk on the phone, it just wasn't the same as seeing them in person. Knocking on the door, she stood there nervously. _

_With a loud crash, the door flew open and Kate was treated to the sight of a flour covered Chloe. _

_"What happened, munchkin? Have you decided that you are going to be a ghost for Halloween?"_

_"No, silly. Daddy and I were getting started making the cupcakes."_

_"I thought you were going to wait for me." Kate said with a mock pout._

_"We are. We were just getting the ingredients out. I dropped the flour container though and it is EVERYWHERE! "_

_"I can see that." Kate said rubbing a finger over Chloe's nose. "How about we go see what you dad is up to before he makes the mess worse."_

_Grabbing Kate's hand, Chloe pulled her into the loft as best she could._

_"Slow down. I need to take off my jacket first."_

_"Hurry!" Chloe said as she impatiently bounced up and down on the balls of her feet._

_"Done. Now, let's go." Kate said as she hung up her coat and threw her bag next to the shoes she had left next to the door._

_Walking into the kitchen, Kate was shocked by the sheer amount of flour decorating every surface of the kitchen. Seeing Rick standing in the middle of the mess with a broom in hand: coated in just as much flour as Chloe, Kate backed out of the kitchen as laughter overtook her. She was laughing so hard by time she got to the dining room table that she nearly missed the chair as the tears rolled down her face. _

_After the laughter had subsided, Kate looked up to see a much cleaner kitchen and two eager faces waiting for her to help make cupcakes._

_As they were pulling the last batch of cupcakes out of the oven—an achievement they had earned with only a few more minor messes—the doorbell rang. Running over to the door, Chloe threw it open, barreling out into the women outside with a cry of "Mommy!" Looking over, Kate was surprised to see that the blonde woman was not only accepting the hug from her flour and cupcake batter covered daughter, but she was returning it as well. _

_"Hey, baby! What is all this?" Gina asked as she fingered some of the flour in Chloe's hair. _

_"We are making cupcakes for tomorrow! Want to come see them?" Without waiting for a response, Chloe dragged her to the kitchen just as she had done to Kate a couple hours earlier. "See! We made chocolate and white cupcakes. We are going to get to decorate them tomorrow and it is going to be _Soooooooo_ much fun! Are you going to be here tomorrow, Mommy?"_

_"I see. They look wonderful. I am not sure yet. Mommy has meetings tomorrow, remember? That is why you are going to stay with me tonight. So we can celebrate just in case I can't make it. That way I don't miss your birthday. Now, how about we get you cleaned up so we can go."_

_"Okay."_

_Turning to run upstairs, Gina quickly grabbed Chloe's arm to stop her._

_"Wait, baby. I want you to try something for me…you ready? I want you to shake your head as hard as you can so that your hair flies every which way. Can you do that for me?"_

_"Like this, Mommy?" Chloe asked shaking her head from side to side._

_"Good job. Now, back and forth and then hang your head to the side and I am going to make your hair fly too."_

_A couple minutes later, as Chloe's hair was a little more blond and a little less white, Gina gave her a light smack and sent her upstairs to get her bag._

_Standing up, Gina reached out a hand and genuinely smiled. "Hi. I'm Gina. You must be the famous Kate I have heard so much about."_

_"Hi. Yeah, I'm Kate. I must say, though, that you are nothing like what I expected."_

_"Oh?…ah, you talked to Alexis, didn't you? She never took too kindly to me and Rick's split and has a rather…skewed…perspective on the matter and me in general."_

_"Oh, okay. Well, it's nice to meet you. I know Chloe is excited to get to spend the night with you. While we were baking, it was a toss-up whether she was more excited for tomorrow's party or to get to spend the night with you. Glad to see that that feeling seems to be mutual."_

_After Chloe and Gina had left, Kate and Rick set about cleaning the kitchen and decorating the rest of the loft. By time the last streamer was hung, it was nearing one in the morning and both Rick and Kate were getting a little punch drunk. With one final look at the work they had done, they both headed to bed-excited but wary of what the next day was going to bring. _

Shuddering at the thought of the mess they made and the thought of the possibility of another mess, Kate withdrew her hand from the shower door and decided to forgo the shower for the time being. After freshening up, Kate walked hesitantly in to the kitchen and was pleasantly surprised to find that Rick had managed to clean up breakfast and get out the ingredients for making frosting: without making a mess of the kitchen or himself. With much more confidence, Kate walked over to the coffee pot and poured herself another cup of coffee before grabbing the recipe book from Rick's hands and reading over what they needed to do.

With Kate acting in a supervisory position—sitting at the counter filling bowls with candies for decorating, they managed to make six large batches of frosting, five coloured and one white, with only one minor mishap involving food colouring and Rick mumbling something that sounded like "two by two, hands of blue" under his breath.

-o-O-o-

Coming downstairs half an hour later dressed up as Nancy Drew, Kate finally had a chance to really look around the loft to see what they had done. The entrance to the study was cordoned off with crime scene tape- or at least appeared to be with the tape attached to the door allowing easy access to the study, all around the loft, clues were set up as well as stations for the different 'witnesses' to stand. More crime scene tape was dangling from the ceiling around the dining room table leaving an open space wide enough to be called an entrance. In front of that entrance sat one of the bar stools with a box sitting on it with a sign propped against it reading 'Crime Lab'.

Before Kate could look around anymore, the front door burst open and a whirlwind of blond and pink came running through the door followed closely behind by Gina.

"Kate, how nice to see you again. The place looks amazing, as does your costume." Gina said with a genuine smile on her face as she spun around a little to take in everything. "Now, more than before, I wish I could stay to see how this plays out. I am so sorry to leave like this but I have a meeting that I just can't miss." Gina said hurriedly, walking over to Kate who was giving Chloe a hug.

Bending down, Gina took a hold of Chloe's hand after she had let go of Kate and pulled her over to her.

"Hey baby, I am so sorry, but I have to leave now. You know Mommy loves you and wishes she could stay, right?"

Without a second's hesitation, Chloe threw herself into Gina's arms for a hug and gave her a kiss on the cheek.

"Of course, Mommy. That is why we got to have fun last night. I remember."

Trying to hold back the tears that were threatening to fall, Gina squeezed Chloe tighter and then stood up to leave.

"Tell Rick that I am sorry that I missed him, but I really must be off or I am going to be late." And with that, Gina was up and out the door.

"C'mon Chloe, how about we head upstairs and get you dressed for the party."


	12. Birthday celebrations

Flopping down on the couch with a heavy sigh after all the guests had left; Kate wondered how she could have though that chaperoning a party composed of six and seven year olds would be easy. Her head lolled to the left as she squinted at an abandoned plate with a half-eaten slice of cake on it. She considered taking it to the kitchen before she thought otherwise and decided that the coffee table would be enough for now. With another aggravated groan that was more of an exaggeration, she moved the plate to the coffee table, grabbed a pillow, and wearily settled into the sinfully comfortable couch.

-o-O-o-

_As soon as Gina was out the door, Chloe grabbed Kate's hand and dragged her up the stairs, not letting go until they were in her room. Running for the closet, she started pulling out her costume as Kate sat on the bed and watched her._

"_Did you have a good time with your mom last night?"_

"_The best! It was amazing! We got to go to __Randy's. It's my favourite. They have spaghetti and meatballs and breadsticks and they let you colour on the tablecloth. Isn't that so cool? They give you crayons and just tell you to colour. Mom let me get __whatever I wanted. Then, after dinner, the waiter came out and sang 'Happy Birthday' to me and gave me an ice cream sundae covered in sprinkles and whipped cream. Then we went home and Mom gave me my present and...Oh, let me show you. It is so cool."_

_Running out of the door, Chloe ran back downstairs. Within minutes she was back and pulling her present from the bag to show Kate. "See? Isn't it amazing?"_

_Without any warning, Kate found herself holding a non-descript box as Chloe went back to getting dressed._

"_What is it?"_

"_It's the first five Nancy Drew books—the original ones, not the newer ones. Mom says they are way better than the new ones. And she says if I finish these she will give me more."_

_Opening the box, Kate was surprised to discover that the books looked old, some of them even having the blue covers of the earlier editions, rather than the yellow covers she was expecting. _

"_Mommy says that those were her copies from when she was little and that she wanted me to have them." Chloe mumbled unconsciously. Staring at her outfit at the mirror and deeming it good enough, she turned to Kate with a huge smile. "Okay. I'm ready, Katie. What do you think?" Kate smiled to herself at the little girl's need for reassurance. _

_Setting the box back on the bed, she approached the girl and knelt in front of her. "Stop squirming, little girl." Picking a stray piece of lint from Chloe's should and adjusting stray hairs, Kate smiled sweetly at her and with two hands at the girl's shoulders, she turned her around to face the mirror- with her kneeling behind her. _

_"Beautiful. Just beautiful."_

_Standing up, Kate watched the little girl twirl in front of the mirror before picking up the books and sitting back down on the bed as she studied the present again._

_After hearing about her from Alexis and seeing her with Chloe, Kate wasn't quite sure what to think of Gina, but she had to admit that the collection had been a thoughtful gift._

_Looking up from the books, Kate let out a smile as she saw the little girl standing in front of her looking like she had stepped right out of the pages of a book. "And who are you again?"_

"_I'm Jean Dana. Alexis is going to be Louise."_

"_And why do you get to be Jean?"_

"_Because I'm blonde, of course."_

"_Of course." Holding back her smile, Kate stood from the bed and held out her hand for Chloe's. "How about we head downstairs and see what kind of trouble your dad has gotten himself into."_

"_Okay." __She twirled for the last time and replied with twin dimples showing up with his smile._

_Feeling herself get pulled along as Chloe jumped excited from stair to stair, Kate let out a laugh as she tried to rein Chloe in. Reaching the bottom of the stairs, Kate was glad to see that Castle hadn't come out yet. Walking towards the kitchen to start getting the food ready, Kate was distracted by the sudden opening of the front door._

"_Where's the birthday girl?" _

_Startled by the appearance of the vibrant redhead dressed in period clothes walking in like she owned the place, Kate squeezed Chloe's hand a little tighter as she felt the little girl trying to pull away. Knowing the exuberance that the Castles seem to have, Kate gripped Chloe's hand tightly and shot a warning smile to the older woman. However, having underestimated the young girl's zeal; before she knew it she was clutching empty air as Chloe ran full speed for the mystery redhead._

"_Grams! You're here!" Slowing down just enough at the end to prevent them from falling over as she ran right into Martha's legs, Chloe attached herself to her grandmother._

-o-O-o-

With a start, Kate snapped back to reality at the feeling of a blanket being placed over her and the slight lowering of the cushion as Castle sat down next to her feet. Rolling onto her back, Kate moved her hands behind her head to prop it up a little more.

"Did you have fun today?"

"Fun may not be my exact word choice, but, yeah, something like that."

"What would your exact word choice be?"

Tensing slightly as Castle pulled her closer so her feet were resting in his lap; she relaxed as she saw him remove her shoes. "Exciting. Exhausting. Something that you would do well to remind me to never do again—at least not for a good long time."

"Guess it's a good thing that Chloe's birthday isn't for another year then. Right?"

"Right now, even that's too soon. " Closing her eyes involuntarily at the heavenly feeling of Castle's deft fingers working the aches out of her feet, she lazily continued, "You know, I've chased after a murder suspect who was a track athlete and I didn't even break a sweat." Sitting up just slightly she squinted confusedly at Castle. "What did you feed them?"

-o-O-o-

_Not long after Martha arrived, the doorbell started ringing nonstop as the little girls arrived for the party. By the time all the girls had arrived, there were at least two Sherlock Holmes' and three Nancy Drew's running around._

_Once all the girls were good and hyped up on sugar, Rick called for the girls to gather round. _

"_Oh the horror! While I was out getting decorations for the party, someone came into my house and stole my present for Chloe. Whoever would do such a thing?"_ _Rick exaggerated as he conjured up all the acting genes that might have been passed on to him from his mother._

"_I don't know, Mr. Holmes. Who could have done such a thing?" Rolling her eyes as she spoke, Kate stepped forward to converse with Castle. "Maybe these fine detectives, gracing us with their presence today, would be willing to help us find the present. What do you say girls? You up for solving a crime today?"_

_With a cheer all the girls ran forward to grab the notebooks—each containing checklists of things they needed to find at the crime scene and things to find out from each witness—and pens that were being held out for them. Every time a girl found a piece of evidence—be it a piece of candy, a bowl with a icing fingerprint or some things completely unrelated—they were handed a paper lunch sack to put it into to be taken back to the 'crime lab' and each girl checked off the evidence in her notebook. Once the crime scene was thoroughly searched, the evidence was dropped off with Alexis in the crime lab while the detectives went and questioned witnesses (Martha, Kate, Rick and a couple of Martha's acting friends). After each girl had had a chance to question each witness, they were all lead back to the crime lab where Alexis told them what she had discovered from the evidence. _

_With all the evidence they needed, the girls were then asked who they thought had stolen the present with the winners receiving prizes—little toys detective sets with plastics handcuffs, guns and badges. _

_The girls had then been ushered into the 'crime lab' where they decorated and ate cupcakes—making a huge mess in the process._

-o-O-o-

"Shh! Don't wake Kate up."

Stirring slightly at the sound of whispers and giggles floating around her, Kate opened her eyes just enough to see what was happening in front of her.

"Why is she so tired, Daddy?"

"She isn't used to being around so many little girls. It's exhausting."

"But you aren't tired."

"That's cause he is no better than you little girls." Sitting up with a large stretch, Kate yawned before continuing. "He was just as hyper and excited as you were. Truthfully, I think it was him that made the day so exhausting, not you girls."

Giggling at the thought, Chloe walked over to Kate, climbed on to the couch and pulled her into a hug. "Thank you for everything today. You're the bestest."

"Hey! What about me?" Crossing his arms, Castle let a pronounced pout overtake his face.

Jumping up from the couch, Chloe ran over to her dad and gave him a hug. "You're the bestest too."

"Is that why you are playing with Kate's present and not mine?"

"Daaadddyyy! I would be playing with yours but you said it was too loud and not to wake Kate up."

"I said that?" Feigning innocence, Castle walked over to the couch and sat beside Kate. "Don't know where she comes up with these crazy ideas. Me? Be all grown up about something? Who does she think she is talking about?"

Rolling her eyes, she pushed him away in order to stand up. "I don't know, but come on. You promised to play a game of laser tag with her once the loft was cleaned up. From where I sit, it looks pretty cleaned up to me. Now move."

Standing up from the couch, Kate grabbed Rick's arm and pulled him up with her. Not wasting any time, she shoved him in the direction of his study. As she stood there watching him disappear, she felt a tug on the hem of her shirt.

"Hey, Kate?" Chloe whispered.

"Yes, Chloe bear?" She leaned down and whispered back teasingly.

"Don't tell Daddy but I love your gift better, okay?"

Kate smiled at the young girl and kissed her forehead. "Your secret is safe with me."

Chloe snuggled up to her and put her small arms around Kate's neck. "I'm really glad you're here."

"I'm glad I'm here too." Releasing Chloe from the tight hug she had wrapped her up in, Kate pushed Chloe back just slightly so that she could see her face. "So, what do you say about taking your dad down at his own game?"

-o-O-o-

Quickly splitting up into two teams, Castle and Chloe versus Kate and Alexis, they ran off to opposite ends of the room to strategize. One minute later, Martha sounded the bell to begin the round before heading to the top of the stairs to observe and referee from above.

Running from the study to the couch, Chloe rolled on to the couch while Castle took to the floor beside it. Peeking up slightly and spotting the tell-tale flashing blue lights of Alexis' vest, Castle quickly ducked back down.

"I'm not sure I am comfortable with the plan anymore, Chloe."

"Plan, Daddy? What plan?"

"What plan? The plan we just talked over in the study."

"I thought you said the plan was just to survive." Screeching loudly as she caught sight of Kate around the edge of the couch, Chloe quickly stood up and bolted. "We've been spotted. I'm a ghost."

"Chloe! You can't do this to me." Before he could do more than raise his gun in an attempt to ward off the oncoming attack, his vest started flashing and beeping. "Seriously. I can't believe my own daughter would abandon me like that. I thought she loved me."

"Rick, stop being such a sore loser." Walking towards the man laying supine on the floor, she reached out a hand to help him up only to be surprised by the sound of her vest going off. "What?"

-o-o-o-

Somewhere in the middle of the third round of laser tag, Castle made the executive decision to order in rather than make dinner.

Twenty minutes after their order had been placed, the two teams—Rick and Kate versus Chloe and Alexis—were at a stalemate. Neither team seemed like they were going to be able to make a move and win the round. With each team just needing one hit to end the round, everyone was doing their level best to stay out of sight. Just when Kate was about to emerge from her hiding spot and make a run for a better tactical position, the doorbell rang, freezing everyone momentarily. Standing up from behind the couch, Rick headed for the door, pulling out his wallet as he went.

Suddenly, the sensors on his vest registered a hit and the round was over.

"Hey! No fair! You know that delivery men constitute an immediate cease fire while payment is made."

"Only if a cease fire is actually called. Those are your rules dad, not mine. If you can't play right, you can't complain." Cradling her gun to her chest, Alexis walked out from behind the stairs and walked over to her dad.

"Fine" grumbling under his breath "but I demand a rematch."

"Daddy, I'm hungry." Sighing at the little voice, Castle set the food on the table and started removing his gear.

"And there goes your rematch." Kate added with a grin.

* * *

><p>AN: I am so sorry to doing this to any of you who are still reading the story. I know it has been 7 months since my last update (and I have been sitting on this chapter for a month), but I wanted to finish the story before I posted this. Best laid plans and all. Unfortunately, I have not written the next chapter yet (unless you count the one that I wrote which made my beta-ish rage at me about how bad it was). My muse seems to have run away (and doesn't want to come back) and now I am going to have to reform a new one before I can write again. I truly am sorry.


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